Fate & Dragons
by Lesliezin
Summary: Four years since Hiccup trained his Dragon, three years since Merida gained her freedom. Time is short and Princess Merida needs to wed one of the suitors before war breaks out. To keep the peace it is up to Hiccup to kidnap Merida and marry her.
1. A War Comes

**Hello all,**

**This is my second story to write here and I hope you enjoy it. Also to be cautious the rating is T just in case, but may change later depending. **

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It was a dark stormy night that they would meet in the darkened cave off the coast of Scotland. The three figures waited impatiently for the fourth. As it was their patience was thin to begin with as they sat around a small fire and occasionally looked to the entrance. "A' canae believe we're doin this! King Fergus would hae our heads if he knew."

"Quiet Macintosh yer nae helpin the situation." Lord Dingwall spoke up as he poked the fire with a stick.

"Indeed." A voice behind them sounded causing Lord Macintosh to shriek like a girl and whirl around. No one had heard the dragon approach due to the thunder and lightening, but as lightening streaked across the sky the three lords saw the large shape as the dragon peeked in behind the man. Puffing out his chest Lord Macintosh tried to look brave after his embarrassing girlly scream. "Yer late Vikin'."

"In case you failed to notice Lord Macintosh there is a storm raging out side. Now what is this about?"

"Stoic ye know Alvin the Treacherous has learned ta train dragons much like yer clan, did ye teach him?" Lord Dingwall asked sharply.

"No we are still trying to figure out how he learned this..." Stoic said annoyed as he frowned and sat down by the fire. Whether Alvin just learned by trial and error, or stole the secret somehow was a mystery that still irked Stoic. He wanted to crush Alvin for coming for his son, and at one point stealing the book of dragons, but now the outcast threatened the very alliance Stoic had fought to get with King Fergus. Needless to say Alvin had to be stopped before he could do much more damage.

"He's gatherin' a army ta him, Stoic! He's also raided a few small outlyin' villages taking not just valuables but women!" Lord Macguffin finally spoke up.

"I know why do you think it was so hard to come out here, my people and I are preparing for war. He has gathered other Viking clans to him, and even with dragons my clan is outnumbered!" Stoic had jumped up from his spot and was pacing back and forth in front of the cave entrance. Was this why the clan lords had called him? To blame him for what Alvin was doing?

"We know tha' Stoic. We called ye ere fer tha' reason. Alone we're easy pickins but together we could stop 'em." Lord Macintosh spoke up. Stoic stopped pacing and turned to face the lords.

"You are talking about an alliance, but that would take..." Stoic knew what 'tradition' would demand to form an alliance. Such strong alliances could only be formed by way of marriage. "Has King Fergus agreed to this?"

"Nae, he says he won' force his daughter ta wed." Lord Dingwall replied.

"Then why call me out here?! I have an entire village to look after including dragons-"

"Becuz time is up! It's been three years, she had her chance ta choose but dinnae. Yer son technically won her hand, if yer son takes her as his wife...we will stand behind ye." Lord Dingwall said.

Stoic stood there wide eyed at the three lords. Years ago these very lords banded together to stop the Vikings from raiding their lands. Now this?! Never in all his years did he think these lords would ask him to do this. "You are asking me to go against King Fergus and force his daughter to marry my son?"

"Aye." All three lords answered, the look on their faces was plain they didn't want to do this, but what choice was there? Even still Stoic was already shaking his head his clan had just made peace with King Fergus. He couldn't jeopardize that!

"No, no I can't do that! Besides Hiccup would never-"

"Stoic, if we dunae make a firm alliance wit' ye, we're all doomed." Lord Macintosh spoke up. It was amazing how those words rang true when the sound of thunder followed. As though Thor himself was agreeing with the lords. But now it was not just about keeping the peace with King Fergus or protecting his people, it was about his son. The one person he never thought he would be proud of, and now he considered Hiccup his pride and joy. He had grown into a fine young man, he had trained dragons, learned to fight, and even won the competition for the Princess' hand! Nowadays it always felt like he was asking more of his son when Hiccup had gone above and beyond to prove himself. He knew if he asked Hiccup would do it, but he did not want to ask this of his son. Stoic looked up as a hand came to rest on his shoulder and saw Lord MacGuffin. The lords understood that this was just as difficult for Stoic the Vast as it was for them.

"We'll stand wit' ye Stoic." Lord MacGuffin finally broke the silence. What made all this so much worse was the fact that, it meant going against King Fergus. It was a betrayal to the king and queen, but as Lords: Dingwall, Macintosh, and MacGuffin were going to stand with him. It meant that King Fergus and Queen Elinor could do nothing against him, not with the support of the other lords. Still it felt wrong to go behind the King and Queens back, he had spent years trying to earn their trust and form an alliance. Now he was being asked to break that trust and form an ironclad alliance to bring everyone together and stop Alvin in his tracks. Stoic glanced behind him Thornado was still peeking in and watching carefully the whole interaction. If he did nothing, Lord Macintosh was right they'd all be doomed. For a few minutes Stoic was silent then nodded before giving his answer.

"Very well I will ask Hiccup."

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"That was amazing! It worked bud!" Hiccup called as they flew through the air and resumed their patrol of the island. Thus far Alvin had not struck Berk, but the outcast Viking had struck small villages and towns along Scotland's coast. Everyone knew it was only a matter of time before Berk would be attacked too. So Hiccup had organised regular patrols of the island and had been training every Viking not just to ride a dragon, but to prepare for war on the backs of dragons. Aside from vigorous training, and regular patrols; Hiccup began inventing devices to protect and defend Berk. Gobber was always busy working on constructing the devices with guidance from Hiccup. As soon as the device was made Vikings were also trained in it's use. The latest invention was a type of glider suit for dragon riders to wear and use if knocked off their dragons. It just might save the rider's life, "I can't wait to tell the guys, this will help if Alvin comes around. I mean sure he and his people can ride Dragons but with this?! Even if we fall or are knocked off our dragons we have better chance of surviving."

Toothless merely made a guttural purr in response as their patrol was coming to an end they neared Berk. Landing on the hillside just beyond the village, Hiccup dismounted and gave Toothless a pat. Already his friends were waiting for him as he removed his helmet to reveal not a boy but a man. "We were looking for you, Hiccup."

"Oh sorry about that guys, Toothless and I were on patrol and test-"

"Hiccup your father has returned," Astrid interrupted with a worried expression.

"What happened?! Did Alvin attack?!"

"No! No your father is fine, but he looked..." Astrid trailed off trying to think of the proper word to use.

"He looked like someone skimped on his mead, then gave him nothing but a fish bone to eat." Snotlout replied stiffly. "He told us he needs to talk to you immediately."

Nodding Hiccup headed down the hill past his friends towards Berk, Toothless in tow. Entering the house he set his helmet down to find his father stoking the fire in the living room. He was reminded of four years ago when his father told him he would be going for dragon training. "Dad what's wrong?"

"Sit with me son." Doing as his father asked they sat in silence for a few minutes before his father sighed. "Do you know why we fought the highlanders before making peace with them?"

"Because of the raids, we took everything of value from the coastal villages including women. Then the highland tribes banded together and drove us out. Until you made peace with King Fergus, you swore to never allow such evil acts to continue." Hiccup said recounting what he was told of those dark times.

"I worked hard fought hard for peace with King Fergus..." Stoic trailed off looking completely drained. Hiccup felt dread overwhelming him, his father wouldn't go back to raiding would he?

"Dad what's wrong?!"

Unexpectedly Stoic looked to his son and put his hand on his shoulder. "Before I say what is wrong, I need to say this. You make me so proud everything you've done. You trained dragons, saved our clan, trained to be a fine warrior, and won the competition for the princess' hand. Know that what I ask of you no matter your answer I will not be angry. I will always be proud of you."

The look in his father's eye that all but pleaded for forgiveness was what worried Hiccup most, but the words meant a lot to him all the same. His father nowadays was making up for most of Hiccup's life, when Stoic considered him a complete failure. "Of course dad."

Nodding Stoic straightened and took some deep breathes. "I met with the other highland clan leaders, you remember competing with their sons for the princess' hand?" When Hiccup nodded he continued, "They recognise Alvin as a threat to everyone. He's struck some coastal towns, but nothing big yet, they propose an alliance."

"Oh boy don't tell me they have daughters, dad." Hiccup replied nervously.

"Well they do but they are too young for marriage. No they propose an alliance by marriage to Princess Merida." Stoic said.

"The Princess? Has she decided on whom she wants to wed?" Hiccup asked sceptically.

"No son she has not, but the lords recognise that it was _you_ that won the competition. They said they would stand with us on the union." Stoic wanted to go slow in his explaining and he had gone as slow as possible knowing Hiccup was a very smart lad. Just then his son's eyes widened as his quick brain picked up on what was being asked of him.

"Waaaaaiiiitt a minute dad you are saying the other highland lords want to push for the union? But it was agreed the Princess would choose for love not be pushed-"

"I know son none of us like it, but we have little time left before war finds us." Stoic looked to the floor. For too long a silence reigned as both thought over the situation, but Stoic knew better then to push. Meanwhile Hiccup was in turmoil sure he and Astrid never worked out, and none of the other girls his age interested him; but this?! Forcing the Princess into a marriage like that! For a moment he went back to the last challenge of archery, he and Lord Dingwall's son were the only one's to hit the bullseye, well until Princess Merida showed up. All he could think was she had so much fire and was beautiful when allowed to be herself. He wasn't even angry that she split his arrow in two, he respected her choice, perhaps that was why he and Astrid never worked out. After seeing the Princess no one else could compare. So when it was decided that in the end Merida would decide whom to wed, Hiccup was happy for her.

He was so deep in thought he had not even heard Toothless come in but woke up when the dragon affectionately nudged him. In months they would all be at war with Alvin and two choices lay before him. Refuse and go to war which could mean Toothless and many others dying or force the princess to wed and unite to stop a common enemy. This was why his father had said he would support his son's choice no matter what. His father wasn't demanding he do this, but asking him to. He could say no, but what would be the price later on? His father? His friends? Gobber? Toothless? Imagining them hurt or worse was too much and it would be all his fault! That would be the point he'd wish to be back at this moment in time and decide to do something horribly wrong to prevent the deaths of those he held dear."Odin forgive me..." Hiccup whispered before speaking up. "What do I have to do?"


	2. Never trust a Viking

**Hello all,**

**I am glad you all are enjoying the story, thank you for the wonderful reviews! I do hope you enjoy this next chapter.**

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THUD!

"Another good shot ma, donae forget ta exhale as ye release!"

THUD!

"Ow my shoulder aches, ye had more practice then me, darlin." Queen Elinor rubbed her aching shoulder.

"A' know, but wit' war comin we need ta prepare, ma." Merida said rubbing her own pained shoulder. "The more we practice the betta we git." In the safety of the courtyard where only three years ago the lord's sons competed for her hand, Queen Elinor and Princess Merida stood practising for war. Archery was quickly becoming less fun since they now had to perfect it rather than wanted to. Whispers of the threat had everyone on their toes, all but one Viking clan united with Alvin the Treacherous. The Berk Viking clan were under high suspicion since they were supposedly the first to train dragons, and now Alvin had the ability. However Stoic and his clan swore they didn't help or support Alvin. Many believed Stoic was waiting to betray King Fergus at the best opportune moment, even the royal family were suspicious. Though some questioned if Stoic's clan even rode dragons, none of the royal family nor the locals had seen the Hairy Hooligans riding dragons. So even though it was suggested and pointed out, many overlooked the idea of Stoic's clan riding dragons. After all everyone was focused on the threat of Alvin, and so while the Hairy Hooligans swore fealty to King Fergus they were allies and so the suspicions were buried.

With the land preparing for war everything became more serious, it felt like people were ducking for cover whenever the clouds blocked the sun. Narrowly the Queen and Merida convinced King Fergus that when war came they would not be hidden away but fight as well, with dragons involved no place would be safe. Both knew hiding while an army of Vikings on the backs of dragons rampaged was pointless. The fear was enough to cause even the little devils: Hamish, Harris, and Hubert to behave. Notching another arrow Merida shot at her target and winced almost dropping the bow. She had to be the best for her people which meant pushing herself and so she weathered the pain and tried to shoot again.

"Merida enough, we have practised enough. Ye need ta rest, if ye injure yerself ye will be nae good in a fight." Queen Elinor had gone to her daughter and turned her around. She knew this was important but seeing Merida push herself so hard was torture.

"Yer right ma, my shoulder does pains me. Time fer princess lessons?"

Nae sweeti' nae lessons today. Ye done enough." Queen Elinor spoke up.

"Time fer dinner!" Maudie called out and the pair headed back to the castle.

"Ye tell 'em it nae happenin'! Me daughter decides nae the lords!" King Fergus' angry voice was coming from the main hall and had stopped Queen Elinor and Merida dead. The messenger stood proudly, a messenger from Clan Macintosh.

"Very well A'l tell 'em, but they'll nae be happy! Ye have the chance ta avert all this, but put yer daughter's wishes before us all!" That was it, King Fergus rose and pulled a broad sword ready to deliver the messengers head back to his fellow lord without the body.

"Yer lord agreed ta the terms! She nae marry unless they win her heart!" King Fergus said as he drew near the messenger whom now stumbled back. Knowing that sending a messengers head back was a sign of war, Queen Elinor moved forward leaving Merida in the doorway they had come in. The Queen took on her commanding air she usually did and stopped her husband, then turned her icy glare to the messenger.

"Ma daughter practises her heart out ta prepare ta defend the people, and ye act like she is selfish! Ye tell yer lord he is the one being selfish! He agreed ta the terms and any tha' go back on their word in the face o' war dishonours 'emselves!" The messenger shrank back before speaking in a more softened tone.

"Is it dishonourable ta ask the terms ta change ta avoid war and death?"Queen Elinor wasn't prepared for that, and so the messenger pressed, "It's nae yer family on the coast, nae yer daughter they'll take. Sometimes terms need changin' or we all pay..."

That was when the messenger left and the king and queen were faced yet again with the pressure of what was to come. More and more the messengers came demanding Merida choose a suitor and wed, over time it became less about her freedom and who she would love, and more about stopping a war. All four suitors were very nice, but three she could only view as friends. The fourth was a Viking and despite his small frame, Merida knew the stories of Vikings and what they did. It frightened her to think of being taken away to Berk they were barbarians after all. As she had grown up she knew she had a duty to her kingdom, but also wanted to find love not just wed for politics. She remembered reading of tales of love a brave knight sweeping a maiden off her feet, but the more these messengers pressured the more it seemed like such tales were unreal.

Suddenly Merida was no longer hungry but needed air and lots of it. Turning away she left quickly and headed for the stables, a ride on Angus always cleared her head. As usual she took her bow, quiver of arrows, and sword just in case, but knew she would not be able to lift her bow today after such a vigorous workout. Soon she was on Angus riding hard and fast as she left the castle grounds and entered the woods. Her thoughts were elsewhere as her horse carried her far into the woods. The fresh air helped as she breathed it in and her wild red hair blew in the breeze. She preyed for a sign in that moment then opened her eyes.

After a long hard ride, they stopped by a nearby stream and Merida hopped off Angus and let him get a drink. Now away from the pressures of the castle and the demands of the other lord's messengers she sighed. Why did it all have to hinge on her? Were they not strong enough allies? Why did it require her to marry someone? Shaking her head she looked around, here at least it was quiet and peaceful with nothing looming over her. The only reminder of her problems was her sore shoulder which she rubbed then a glow caught her eye.

The all too familiar blue glow of the will-o'-the-wisps got her full attention. Caution warred with fascination, as Merida moved towards the glowing wisp which disappeared leading her to another. Wisps were meant to lead one to their fate, but as with history clearly reminded her that fate could turn out to be disastrous. So there was a struggle to follow and see what fate intended for her be it good or bad, or flee and ignore the wisps call. Thinking of how bad her fate could turn out to be, Merida started to turn away and leave but stopped short._ 'What if it could save us all? I'll be more specific this time if it's the witch the wisps lead me to.'_ Merida thought.

Biting her lip she turned back to the blue glow and spoke as though talking to the wisp. "Alright Al' follow ye, but that nae means anythin' will come o' it!"

With that she followed the wisp, Angus instinctively following her without any urging from her. For the longest time the wisps lead her further into the woods and soon the sun would be setting. Merida was just about to give up following the wisp when it led her to a clearing. In the large clearing the wisps made a semi-circle as though gathering and waiting for her arrival. Moving into the semi-circle of wisps she stood there a moment before they all suddenly vanished._ 'Typical bloody wisps!'_ Merida growled at the waste of time and turned back to Angus, this time the wisps didn't lead her to her fate but a clearing which was a waste of time. As she started to head back to Angus, that was when it happened. The natural instinct, that survival instinct embedded in all animals came alive in Angus as he sensed a predator nearby. The frightened horse gave a whinny and moved around the field nervously. "Angus?!" Catching his reigns, Merida tried to calm him, "What's wrong with ye, ye big baby?!"

"If I had to guess, he senses a predator nearby and is scared." A man's voice spoke up, and Merida whirled around pulling her sword as she did to face the source of the voice. There stood a young man about the same age as her leaning against the tree. He looked familiar, but older, taller, and not as scrawny as she remembered. Though at that moment his name escaped her, but she did recognise some of his features and his green eyes. Where had she seen him before? Strangely she immediately saw he was a Viking and took a defensive position. "Keep yer distance, I nae wanna hurt ye, but A will defend myself!"

The young man gave a dejected look as his shoulders slumped. "Great! You don't even remember me, do you?"

Merida swallowed scouring her memory for something to tell her who this man was. She should definitely remember him, or at least her pounding heart wanted her to. In the end all she could do was shake her head. Which caused the boy to frown and give a sarcastic response. "Of course not, who would remember the scrawny Viking toothpick?"

Merida's eyes widened at the confirmation of what the boy was, A Viking. It was a word that often frightened young maidens and caused men to pull swords. Yet she had only met two Viking and that was at the competition three years ago. She mostly remembered her pain and sadness at being forced to be presented as a potential bride like she was a bargaining coin. Only vaguely did she remember that she had gasped and scooted away as Stoic the Vast come up to the throne and greeted her father. Stoic was everything she imagined a Viking to be and had been just as frightening despite the gentle way he bowed and spoke, then he introduced his son the fourth suitor-Hiccup. Stoic the Vast stepped aside to reveal his son whom was nothing like his father at least in appearance. She never really spoke to Hiccup, but from all her princess lessons about Vikings, Merida didn't really want to learn more. To put it mildly her family had a 'personal history' with Vikings and was afraid of them. It wasn't prejudice, she respected the Berk Clan and the alliance they formed with her people; but some wounds were too deep to ever heal properly. It was because of these deep wounds and their history that Merida never really considered Hiccup a suitor, sure he had technically won the competition; but he was a Viking.

Getting over her shock she swallowed. "A' am sorry, just a bit jumpy. Ye caught me off guard there Hiccup."

He seemed to brighten then happy to be remembered by the princess. "You remember me?"

"Yeah A remember ye. Yer taller, and gained a bit o' muscle, but yer features changed lil'. What are ye doin way out here?"

"I uhh I needed some fresh air." Hiccup rubbed his neck nervously.

"C'mon now ye need nae lie, ye live on an island and it would take ye weeks to get here by boat." Merida pointed out. Despite the proof to the contrary, Merida like many in Scotland doubted the rumours that the Berk Viking clan rode dragons. Besides like many in Scotland all her focus was on Alvin and his army that threatened the lands, and so the little rumour was easily overlooked.

"Alright I will tell you on two conditions." Hiccup replied giving her a crooked smile.

"Name yer terms first." Merida answered cautiously.

"First you have to put away your sword." Hiccup's eyes moved to the blade in her hand. For a moment Merida looked at the blade then at him. Hiccup was taller and not as scrawny as before, but still he was no where near the size of his father. If Hiccup tried anything though, Merida was sure she could defend herself, and so sheathed her blade. "Secondly, please join me for dinner. I was just setting up camp and preparing dinner when you arrived."

Uncertain Merida looked to Angus whom still acted like he would be attacked by a predator any moment. As her attention went to Angus Hiccup waved frantically to his left to get Toothless to back away. A moment later the horse calmed down, and Merida looked back to the Viking. The young man gave another of his croaked smile, which surprisingly made him look very handsome. Now relaxing a bit more Merida knew as a princess she could not be ruled by fear. She would be queen one day, which meant she could not show fear to anyone especially the Vikings. Besides it would be good practice to show that their alliance was important since Hiccup's clan were allies. Smiling her fake smile to keep a peaceful meeting, Merida answered. "O' course Lord Haddock, A' would be honoured ta join ye."

Following him into the woods further they came upon his camp trailed by Angus. The pair sat on a log by the fire, and were soon eating a couple of cooked fish. Merida had thought to ask what he was doing way out there after dinner. As Hiccup offered her a drink from a water-skin, Merida kept a pleasant attitude as she spoke. "Yer a very good cook Lord Haddock."

"Thank you princess." Hiccup replied shyly then his expression saddened. She had just drank some of the water and not noticed the sweetness of it. "I...uhh princess. I am sorry..."

"Fer what? Ye did nothin' wrong." Merida replied though now she felt too relaxed and light headed. In mere moments she realised her mistake as the water-skin slipped from her fingers to the ground. She had become too trusting and now she noticed the lingering sweet flavour. "What have ye done? Why? I donae understand..."

She blinked back the tired spell enough to see Hiccup reach for her, but she stumbled back as she moved away and came to lean against a nearby tree. She reached for her sword but it felt so heavy like trying to lift a boulder. Just as her knees gave out a pair of arms caught her waist, and she found herself held against the young Viking. Weakly she tried to push away, but her limbs felt so heavy. Her head lulled back as she saw Angus whinny and was ready to defend his rider. "Now Toothless!"

The young Viking's words confused her dizzy mind, what was a Toothless? Seeing a black shape block Angus' path she reached out with all her remaining strength. "Angus...noooo please donae...donae... Angus..."

Then everything went, all her remaining strength and resistance fled away as everything went black. The last thing she heard was Hiccup's soft whisper in her ear. "I'm sorry Merida, please forgive me."

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It felt like a dream when she opened her eyes a short time later fighting the drug that sapped her strength. Vision partially blurred she looked up at the figure above her, his brown hair blown back and he looking forward. She knew she was being held against him and the way it felt they must be on horse back. She tried to shake her head at the thought, Angus would not carry them he would try to protect her from Hiccup. This left the question what were they riding on? Did Hiccup have a horse? She had not seen one back at his camp. Weakly the reached down beside her to find not a main or horse hair, but scales. Scales? What manner of beast did one ride that had scales? Then it struck her like a blow to the gut, the rumours were true the Berk Viking clan rode Dragons! She wanted to ask what he was intending for her, but it was too much to stay awake and soon her eyes fluttered shut once again.

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	3. First Impressions

**Hello all,**

**Thank you again for the lovely reviews, I truly appreciate them. Here is the next chapter **

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There was so many instances during this trip that Hiccup asked himself what he was doing? But he never once got a response, this was more crazy and stupid then fighting the Green Death! More than once he wanted to turn Toothless back and return her to where he found her, but by now her horse Angus would've been found and a search for her would have been called. He was careful to leave no trace of who took her after Toothless scared off the loyal horse. He also expected it to be harder to kidnap her, instead she came to him as though called.

She had certainly grown, and Hiccup found himself staring at her on the flight home. Her wild red hair was still just as wild. Her features had become more defined as she was now a young woman, her cheeks were still dusted with freckles. Hiccup remembered the last time he saw her, yes he had wanted her to find love and choose for herself who to marry. But he would be kidding himself if he tried to say he didn't want her to pick anyone else but him._ 'Oh yeah she will definitely pick me now! Kidnapping is the new romantic way to get a girl.' _Hiccup thought sarcastically and shook his head. If anything he expected marriage to Merida to be miserable now, she'd never forgive him for this.

As though sensing his rider's pain and uncertainty, Toothless made an uncertain growl as they flew. To reassure his friend, Hiccup reached down with his free hand and placed it on Toothless' neck. "It's okay bud."

It was enough to reassure his friend, but for Hiccup the words rang hallow, soon they would reach Berk. Stoic and Gobber both decided to tell the village what was going on so they could welcome the Princess more openly despite the circumstances. To sooth the shock the dragons were to be hidden away at first in case the princess was awake when they landed in Berk. While it had been rumoured King Fergus, Queen Elinor and their children were never shown or informed of the dragons for fear the royal highlanders would assume it a threat. When Stoic and Hiccup arrived for the competition for Merida's hand three years before they took the ships like everyone else. It was only later Lords Dingwall, Macintosh, and MacGuffin learned that the rumours were true about Berk's dragons during a visit. However they never confirmed the rumours to the King due to the circumstances. Namely a war was brewing and the last thing the lords wanted was to be fighting amongst themselves.

So as they arrived in Berk they were welcomed home by the village, and all understood the seriousness of the situation. Hiccup numbly slide off Toothless with the unconscious Princess Merida in his arms. Carrying her to their home, Gobber ushered the other villagers away. "Away wit' ye. Ye lot look like ye never seen a princess before. Git!"

Soon the princess was laid on the hard wooden bed that belonged to Hiccup in his room. Pulling the covers over her, he tried to make her as comfortable as possible. He came down stairs briefly to get a mug of water, and a plate of bread and apples. Setting them beside her bed, he finally came down stairs and sat before the fire. At the end of the flight, Hiccup felt like an old man and looked just like his father in that moment as he leaned forward and poked the fire with the fire poker. For Stoic's part he had followed his son home and now watched him, despite the situation he had to smile. Though Hiccup would always be a 'scrawny' Viking in Viking terms, Stoic kept seeing more of himself in his son everyday. The most prominent trait was Hiccup's stubborn streak, once Hiccup decided something nothing short of an army would stop him. Finally Stoic felt the need to check yet again with his son and cleared his throat. "Hiccup? Son?"

Hiccup stopped poking the fire and looked up to his father. "Are you sure son?"

"If it will stop the war, then yeah dad I'm sure. I can't let anyone get hurt because I refuse to do something that can prevent it." Stoic could only nod, over the last couple of years and after the Green Death, Stoic now listened to his son and had gotten used to asking for his opinion. He began to turn away to go to bed.

"Dad?" Hearing his son call him, Stoic turned back and could see his son struggling with something.

"Son if you don't want to do this, you can say so. I'll take her back tomorrow and apologise to her family."

"No dad, that's not what I was going to ask. I know the war is close, but before I marry her. I need time. I-we accepted the new terms that she would choose, that she would marry for love. I know it is..." Hiccup trailed off as he searched for a word.

"Unlikely?" Stoic offered causing his son to smirk.

"I was aiming more towards impossible, but I have to try and win her heart before her hand." Hiccup said during this he had gotten up and came to stand before his father.

"Hiccup I said that I would not force you into this, if time with her is what you need then time is what you will get. If in the end you decide not to go through with marrying her for whatever reason then no matter what I will support your choice."

"Thanks dad, just give me a month to try to do this right. After that whether I've won her heart or not we will marry." Hiccup said he still looked so lost, and Stoic put a hand on his shoulder.

"Relax son, you've tamed dragons. I know you can win this princess' heart."

"Right because the girl's are just lining up to get at all this." Hiccup replied sarcastically as he gestured to himself.

"You just gestured to all of yourself son, and you haven't noticed how all the girl's in the village have grown upset that you will wed a Scottish Princess not any of them; have you?" The dumbfounded look on Hiccup's face made Stoic laugh. "Odin help us, my son doesn't seem to remember he's the trainer of dragons and slayer of the Green Death. Nor does he realise how many girl's in this village would give their left foot to bear him sons."

"Dad I lost a left foot if you recall." Hiccup dead panned.

"The point is son, that even though it seems hopeless I know you will win her heart." Bidding his son goodnight Stoic went to his own room leaving Hiccup to think. Because his bed was in use and he wanted to be respectful, Hiccup ended up sleeping on the floor downstairs while Toothless went to his usual bed spot across from Hiccup's bed.

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_It was the screams and cries of battle, that and her Aunt's arms around her that she first noticed. Her Aunt was holding her so tight, Merida could barely breathe. Then the strong arms disappeared as Merida was put under a market stall table. "Stay here lass!"_

"_Nae Auntie donnae leave me!"Merida cried as tears slid down her face. She didn't want to be alone. She wanted her Auntie to take her away from this place, back to her father and mother. All around her she saw the battle rage men cut down like animals, women and children screaming and crying. Swords clanging as they collided and the whistle of arrows as they sailed towards their targets._

"_Al' come back A promise, now stay!"Her Aunt moved from the table and drew a sword as young Merida covered her ears to drowned out the harsh noises and screams. _

_Then her Aunt was amidst the battle with sword in hand. A fiery angel with the same trademark red hair flowing wildly as she cut down a man twice her size. Auntie Freya was her name, and she was Merida's idle. Merida peeked out and watched her brave aunt battle them, no one saw her watching the conflict. Then a large burly man came up behind her aunt. "Auntie watch out!" Merida had screamed, but it was too late the great big brute hit her aunt hard. Aunt Freya slumped to the ground, and Merida was too young too small to do anything. Always the evil bastard scooped her Aunt up and threw her over his shoulder before carrying her off into the smoky mist. "AUNTIE!" She would scream and cry and try to move but it felt like she was sewn in place, and forced to watch her Aunt be taken away._

Merida awoke with a gasp and sat up, blinking a few times she was used to the nightmare of how she lost her beloved Aunt. Not realising where she was she laid back down to recover from the frightening dream only to feel pain. Her shoulder throbbed as though someone had struck her in the shoulder with a war hammer. That was when she noticed it, the bed was not hers, it was a hard flat wooden bed that made her minor shoulder injury worse. Looking around she gasped softly not only was the bed not hers, but neither was the room she was in. Almost immediately her memories came flooding back, she had followed the wisps into the woods, met Hiccup the son of Stoic the Vast of the Berk Viking clan, and... HE HAD DRUGGED HER!

Again she sat up and was terrified, her shoulder hurt the most but her entire body ached. She was not used to Viking beds of wood, but did her body ache for a wholly different reason? Did that Viking dishonour her by taking her to bed before her wedding night?_ 'Calm down Merida!'_ She thought to herself and looked around. Her clothes were still on, Hiccup was not in the bed with her which meant she was still a maiden. Breathing a sigh of relief she carefully got up. Unfortunately her weapons were not on her leaving her defenceless. Biting her lip she carefully moved trying to avoid making any noise. She had not moved far when something moved out of the corner of her eye, that was when she saw it a large black dragon asleep on a large block. She bit down on her bottom lip to retain the scream that formed in her throat.

Knowing the beast could wake at any moment she looked around and found a window above the bed. Carefully she moved towards it and tried to quietly open the shudders which squeaked a little. The black dragon made a soft purring noise as it stirred but continued to sleep. Climbing up into the window she froze as Hiccup's voice called up. "Hey Toothless you ready for your morning flight?"

As the dragon stirred some more Merida knew it was now or never and launched out the window. Immediately she almost slipped as her feet had not expected to meet ice and snow. Reaching back she gripped the window sill for support as her feet found footing. As she looked over the edge of the roof she saw the ground blanketed in snow and prepared to jump when an ear piercing roar from the dragon in the room made her jump and mistime her jump. Instead she fell into the snow wrong as the cold hit her still pained shoulder she winced. Sitting up she could hear Hiccup rushing upstairs. "What's wrong bud?"

There was no time to worry over her shoulder she had to get away from this place. Standing quickly she again nearly screamed as she saw where she was: Berk, The Viking clans home! _'No, No, NO This couldn't be happening!'_ She thought then turned and fled towards the woods away from people. Her mind wheeled as she ran, she saw dragons of every kind mixed amongst the people. How could she forget the rumour that they could command dragons, just as the reports had claimed Alvin the Treacherous controlled dragons! _'Oh no! They must be allies, why else would they kidnap me?! I have got to get away and warn my father!' _She thought desperately as she ran. She ran until her lunges burned and her legs wanted to give out then stopped and leaned against a nearby tree to catch her breathe.

Merida had only been resting but a few minutes when she heard others approach. "Wow okay I can't believe you lost the princess."

The voice made Merida duck down in the brush. "Thank you Snotlout." Hiccup's voice groaned.

"So tell us again how she escaped? Cuz you like didn't tie her up or something."

"Guys just help me find her before she freezes to death out here." Hiccup replied already regretting asking for their help as they moved past the bush Merida was hidden in. Why weren't they flying? They were on their dragons, but on the ground. Then she winced the black dragon was sniffing her out, and had started to turn when it lost her scent. She had little time before they would find her, so she stood grabbed onto the lowest tree branch and yanked on it as hard as she could until it snapped. Now with a tree branch for a weapon she turned to face the three boys and their dragons. Correction as they fully turned one of them rode a two headed dragon, and the other rider was a girl, but an obvious twin. The other boy rode a red dragon with long horns and was the typical muscle bound Viking type. Hiccup was atop the black dragon as they soon spotted her holding the branch like a weapon ready to defend herself. She schooled her face as they drew closer to her remembering that 'a princess does not show fear.' Besides she was too angry at being kidnapped and brought here as she glared daggers at Hiccup.

Soon Hiccup slid off Toothless, and tried to come a bit closer to her. "Princess, it's alright no one is going to hurt you. Please drop the branch."

"Hurt me?! I'm gonna hurt ye fer bringin me here!" Merida growled as she took a swing at Hiccup, whom barely ducked and dodged each swing. The black dragon began to growl and was ready to attack but in between swings Hiccup called out. "No Toothless!"

A quick glance told Hiccup his other Viking friends found it all amusing as they held back giggles. "Guys a little help." He called.

"Step back and let me show you how a real Viking handles a girl." The muscular Viking hopped off his dragon, and strolled up. But as he went to grab for Merida she dodged and swung knocking Snotlout to the ground where he groaned.

"Apparently the Snotlout way is to get beaten up by the girl." The male twin laughed, then looked to Hiccup."Hey Hiccup why do you always pick the girls that are tougher then you?"

Hiccup groaned as Merida refocused her attacks on him, dodging each strike he soon found the opening he needed and caught hold of the branch. However when she tried to yank it from from him it pitched him forward and the pair landed together in the snow. For a moment Hiccup was on top of her and mere inches away from her face. Hiccup felt he could stare into her eyes for hours if allowed, he wasn't even aware that his hand had brushed her cheek and she seemed to go red at his touch. Without thinking he started to lean forward to kiss her, and that was when the spell shattered. Merida's eyes widened in fright and she gave a cry as she struck him, it was enough to wake him from his daydream and wonder what he had been about to do. However it was not enough to knock him off of her. "Toothless."

Immediately the black dragon came to his side and Hiccup pulled some rope from his bag. Thus a struggle ensued with Hiccup fighting her to tie her hands together. When he finally did win the wrestling match, she screamed out a series of unladylike curses that would make full grown Vikings blush. How had this scrawny Viking gotten so strong in just three years?! Despite Merida's kicking, struggling, and screaming Hiccup was managing to restrain her. Yanked to her feet by her bound hands, Merida nearly cried out as a sharp pain sliced threw her shoulder. She hid the pain well, but before she could resist further, Hiccup had pulled her onto the black dragon now known as Toothless. Being bound in a Viking's arms while on top a vicious dragon only made her struggle more until Hiccup had enough.

"Toothless up." With that the dragon shot into the air and was soon very high. The dizzying height had Merida grab onto Hiccup's shirt and leather vest as she pressed tightly to him afraid of the sheer drop. "Alright how about now? Still want me to let you go?!"

She didn't mind heights heck she climbed up to the fire falls, but this?! Shivering both from fear and the icy needles of the air, Merida was a brave girl; but it seemed this was too much. Vikings, Dragons, being kidnapped by both she squeezed her eyes shut to keep from crying. Seeing the princess frightened and curled up against him, Hiccup's earlier agitation evaporated. Both he and Toothless would've fought like wild-cats too if in the Princess' shoes. Brushing her wild red hair out of her face, he felt her flinch away from his touch. He needed to reassure her so he leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Don't be afraid nothing bad will happen to you. I'm sorry for scaring you, but you shouldn't have run away like that. You could easily freeze to death in those clothes, not to mention some dragons are not used to outsiders."

Merida kept her eyes tightly closed, she wanted to argue with Hiccup about what people should and should not do. However she certainly did not want to argue on the back of a dragon so high up in the air. When he was certain he would get no response from her he sighed and steered Toothless towards home. Next priority get the princess to a warm dry place to get her warm and dry. Have her eat and get her some better clothes. Finally try to get her to understand, and Thor help him get her to fall in love with him. Thus far he was doing a horrible job.

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**Author's Note:**

**Alright I wanted to just point out that a lot of what I write I try to stick true to how the characters are, I try very hard not to stray. If I can't imagine Hiccup or Merida saying something or doing something I avoid it because I don't want to go too far off track. However it is years later and both have grown so there are subtle changes in their attitudes. Namely Hiccup comes across as more determined more stubborn, otherwise I could not see him kidnapping Merida for the story.**

**So for anyone thinking: 'Wait a minute that's not Hiccup!' I'm sorry. I also try to hold true to how I think Merida would act as well as their families. So I hope nobody is upset with the way I have portrayed the beloved characters. Also in later chapter you will come to understand why Merida dreamt of her Aunt and what happened there.**

**Also yes I went by book and called the dragon he defeated the Green death, I know some call him the red death but I went with Green even though it doesn't sound as impressive, red sounds better.**

**Anyway feel free to review and I hope you enjoyed the third instalment.**


	4. What is wrong with Hiccup?

**Hello all, **

**Thank you all for the lovely reviews, I am glad you all like the story. As requested I have lengthened it a little, but I do not like posting too much at one time. I want to give readers a chance to take in what is happening before I waylay them with more. I also will try to make the accent more understandable, but some words will be kept as a guideline for the accent. **

**Also this chapter might raise some controversy around Hiccup, but I ask everyone to keep in mind the pressure is on Hiccup. He is bound to react to the situation and get annoyed. He is also older, he is not the kid from the first movie he is 19 after all. And while I do try to keep him as he is, he in this story will know the stakes are high, so yes in this chapter he acts differently and you will see how he acts. All I ask is that it is kept in mind that he is older and he has to think about his Viking Tribe more.**

**So without further ado chapter 4.**

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As they landed in Berk, Merida felt the dragon's paws touch down and her eyes opened, she released her hold on Hiccup's shirt. Forgetting her hands were bound her outrage soon returned as managed to punch him, not hard; but enough that he released his hold on her. Jumping off of the dragon, Merida began to run when she stopped short. She was in the centre of the Viking village of Berk, and many were watching what went on between her and Hiccup. "Ha ha! Hiccup ye can sure pick 'em."

An annoyed groan sounded behind her as Hiccup rubbed his nose before hopping off Toothless. "Thanks Gobber."

Merida recognised only Stoic whom stood by the man with two prosthetic limbs now named Gobber. His father laughed as Merida looked for yet another weapon and found an ore for a boat nearby. In bound hands she held the ore like a sword to fend off Hiccup. "Odin help him!"

"Dad! Your not helping!" Hiccup said annoyed as he tried to get closer to her and narrowly dodged the ore being swung at him.

"I can't help it son, she reminds me of your mother." Stoic chuckled as the princess glared at him for that comment. "Careful son she has quit the temper on her!"

"Really I didn't notice?!" Hiccup replied sarcastically.

"A'll show ye how much o' a temper A got!" Merida called out as she swung again. Mentally she imagined Hiccup's mother being kidnapped and brought to this place too.

"Should we help 'em, Stoic?" Gobber asked, though not really concerned.

"Nahhh he's fine just getting acquainted with his future wife." Stoic laughed, his words distracted Merida as she looked terrified, then growled outraged.

"A will nae marry a Vikin'!" She yelled.

"Uh oh Stoic ye made her mad." Gobber replied calmly, as Hiccup again tried to get close, but as she went to swing he caught the ore and pulled it from her grasp. As Merida stumbled forward Hiccup caught her and was able to hold her easier with her hands bound, but now she was kicking and squirming. "Ye will pay fer this! Once my father learns o' what ye done he will come fer yer heads! The truce will be gone!"

"Your father doesn't know your here!" Hiccup said once again annoyed. The idea that no one knew where she was or no one would come to her rescue scared the princess and her struggled became panicked. Still the smallest Viking in this village was still able to hold onto her.

"If only A had my bow, ye'd pay dearly fer this!" Merida screamed as she tried to get loose. Finally it was too much for Hiccup, with an agitated glare he scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder. Hiccup managed to get her back to the house before putting her down, his father, Gobber, and Toothless trailing behind him just in case he needed help with the wild Scottish princess. Merida thought for certain that the worst possible conclusion was about to happen as she was set back on her own two feet inside the house. Instead she was surprised to be pushed into a chair in the living room instead of ending up alone with Hiccup in his room.

"You," Hiccup pointed to Gobber whom was surprised to see him so worked up and annoyed, "Go find Astrid and tell her we need clothes for the princess." Gobber nodded and hobbled out of the house.

"And you dad," The sharpness in Hiccup barely leaving, "You go to the great hall and get some hot food for the princess."

"Son are you-" Stoic began to ask if his son was alright, but Hiccup's glare told him his son was not in the talking mood. Quickly the chief left to do as he was asked.

"Toothless!" Hiccup gestured to the fire place, but his tone was too harsh, and so the poor night fury was confused. Was he in trouble? The usually fierce dragon seemed to cringe back as he looked at Hiccup and Merida. Blinking Hiccup felt bad for letting himself be so agitated by Merida as to speak harshly with Toothless. "Sorry bud, I didn't mean to sound harsh you're not in trouble."

As soon as Toothless relaxed he came up and Hiccup patted him, after some soothing Toothless lit the fire making Merida jump slightly. "Watch her Toothless, make sure she doesn't try anything."

Hiccup went to the kitchen and began heating water for a local hot herbal drink used to prevent colds. After all it was quit possible the princess could catch a cold after running around in that dress during the dead of winter. Meanwhile Merida shivered on the chair, now that she was being made to stay in one spot she noticed how cold and damp her clothes were. She almost jumped out of the seat when Hiccup returned and set the hot drink down beside her. She watched him closely nervous of what he would do, but all he did was pull a large fur around her to keep her warm. "Don't make me regret this princess." Taking his knife out he cut the rope that bound her hands together. "Now drink this."

"A' ain't drinkin nothin ye give me, nae after ye drugged me." Merida said firmly as she glared up at him. Hiccup rolled his eyes took the drink and drank a mouthful to prove it was in fact not drugged.

"See? Not drugged, now please drink it. It will help keep you from getting sick." As Hiccup handed the drink to her she hesitantly took it and began to drink it. The drink was not so bad it warmed her sore throat and went straight down to her empty stomach. Again Hiccup disappeared but this time upstairs to his room, she could hear him moving around. She knew now would've been a good time to escape if not for the dragon that had been told to watch her. Peeking through her wavy red hair she spied the dragon's great big eyes watching her curiously. It's attention left her and went to the door as Stoic returned with food from the great hall.

Stoic nervously cleared his throat, it had been so long since a woman had lived in their house. "Here you go princess, you must be starved."

He set the tray of food down beside her. A bowl of stew, some bread, cheese, and some apples from what Merida could tell. At this point though she didn't care she was starving and so started eating, while Stoic went up stair to see what his son was up to. While she ate both Hiccup and Stoic started making trips with buckets from the kitchen to upstairs and back. Merida hadn't been done eating for long when Gobber knocked before coming in with a blonde haired girl behind him. "We're back."

Coming down the stairs father and son were surprised to find Astrid there. "Astrid, what are you doing here? I sent Gobber to barrow clothes-"

"Yeah he told me, and we brought them, but I thought it best to come and help. Some of the villagers were worried. You weren't acting like yourself earlier." Everybody in the village saw Hiccup carry the princess back to the house with an annoyed expression on his face.

"I'm fine Astrid." Hiccup said although he didn't feel fine, he had snapped at Toothless for no reason.

"Regardless I don't think the princess here would want you watching her as she gets changed, best to let another girl take it from here." Astrid teased.

"Really Astrid?! You think I would-" Hiccup's snappish voice returned..

"Woah woah! Relax Hiccup I was just kidding, I know you are not the type to do that." Astrid interrupted and stole a glance at Gobber whom had been right about Hiccup being agitated. Great now he had snapped at Astrid, again Hiccup was apologising, then added that a bath had been prepared for the princess. "Okay, I'll help her you men relax."

"A won' do a thin' til' someone explains ta me what is goin' on! Why are ye doin' this? Are ye betrayin my people to Alvin?!" Merida demanded, she had remained silent for too long and had allowed herself to be intimidated by Hiccup. Well no more she would rather freeze and get an explanation then keep wondering why this was happening. The room went terribly quiet, as though no one wanted to answer and face the fiery princess' rage.

It was Stoic whom gently cleared his throat and started to explain. "We are still loyal and allied to your father King Fergus, princess. Make no mistake on where our loyalties lie, but desperate times call for desperate measures."

"What kind o' desperate measures?" Merida asked not liking this one bit, and Stoic quickly glanced at his son and back to her. Finding no gentle way to say it, Stoic picked the old Viking straight forward approach.

"Princess a war brews, and we need to be strongly allied. We all wanted you to pick out of love your husband, believe me; but it has been three years. The Scottish lords are all in agreement, my son technically won your hand." Merida blinked shocked as she remembered the entire competition. It was based on three challenges: the first was not so much a challenge but a claim of something they had done. While the other lord's sons supposedly fought an entire battalion or a thousand foes single-handedly and what not, Hiccup's father claimed his son had defeated the Green death, a giant dragon. To back up the claim each lord was to present proof before the royal family of this feat. Most of the lords did this, but nothing was as substantial as the single claw of the Green death. The claw itself had to be brought in on it's own ship! Still it was too hard to believe that anyone could defeat such a creature, did such a thing even exist?! All they had ever seen was a very long claw, and so while Hiccup technically won the first challenge few could believe the claw real.

The second challenge was of mastery in battle, all four suitors were placed in a ring and meant to fight each other. The victor would be the last one standing no one expected Hiccup to be all that good, but while Wee Dingwall was trying to rip out young Macintosh's hair, Hiccup was dodging every attack the large young MacGuffin made. The eventual chase wore the larger boy out, and while Young Macintosh was in a heap crying Wee Dingwall attacked. The wild fighter Wee Dingwall kept launching himself at Hiccup trying everything including biting, it soon came down to Hiccup on the ground blocking the young lord with a shield. As he launched himself onto the Viking, Hiccup used the shield and Wee Dingwall's momentum to throw Dingwall off. Needless to say Wee Dingwall had his senses knocked out of him and surprisingly Hiccup was the victor.

The third challenge was what Merida had chosen, archery. Both Hiccup and Wee Dingwall hit a perfect bullseye, accidentally for Wee Dingwall on purpose for Hiccup. However this became irrelevant when Merida come forward and split both the boys arrows in two. Mostly the challenges were to show off their skills and prove themselves worthy of the princess' hand. It was the third challenge, the one chosen by her that counted most of all. However in technical terms Hiccup had indeed won the competition. However what shocked her most was the Scottish lord's agreeing to this. They had no right to do this, they had all agreed it would be Merida whom would choose when one of the suitor's won her heart.

All the pieces fit together now especially the 'future wife' comments, she had been kidnapped and was going to be forced to wed Hiccup, a Viking. The icy glare and fiery temper returned ten fold as she glared up at Stoic then at Hiccup. "A' ain't marryin' nae Vikin'! A'll never marry yer son! Yer son kidnappin' me just shows how barbaric ye are!"

The princess all but called him and his clan barbarians, which caused Hiccup to become agitated.. "And your a spoilt selfish brat! You don't care about anyone but yourself, does it even matter to you that others will die because you don't want to marry?!"

"A' donae see why it all hinges on me! A marriage ain't gonna stop this war, ye think Alvin is just gonna go: 'Ye two are married now? Oh nae better stop the invasin'!' And A' ain't selfish, selfish is kidnappin a girl from her family!" Merida was soon standing and gesturing wildly as she spoke while Hiccup glared back.

"You think I want to do this? Make you marry me? No, but your the princess your marriage makes an unbreakable alliance that no paper will ever make! And you are selfish you'd hide yourself in your castle while I and everyone else here would go off and get themselves killed!"

"Donae ye dare! Ye donae know me Vikin', ye have no idea what A'd be doin'!"

"I frankly don't care what you would be doing princess! All I care about is protecting my clan and preventing this war and if that means marrying you, then so be it!" The pair glared at one another, and since the princess could think of nothing to say she found another way to make her point clear. Princess Merida let her fist fly without thinking, unfortunately it was with her injured shoulder. Her fist no more then made contact when a sharp jolt of pain ran the length of her arm and into her shoulder. For Hiccup he expected a punch from her to knock him flat, but all it did was sting a little. Quickly waving off Toothless from attacking the princess, Hiccup stood there rubbing his jaw. Meanwhile the princess seemed to wince at something then glare up at him. Had she hurt her hand? No that couldn't be she was too tough for that.

The sting from the punch also knocked him back to his calmer self, was she always going to bring out the worst in him? He was never like this before, and realising what all he had said to her he wanted to apologise. He had just made things worse, how was he going to win her heart now? "A'll die before marryin' the likes of ye!"

The cold words stung him, and then she was gone and upstairs. When he looked at the others in the room they were stunned that he had so spectacularly lost his non-existent temper. Astrid was first to recover as she shook her head in disbelief at him. "Wow Hiccup you never lost it like that with me."

Apparently Astrid must have felt bad for the princess to say that, and soon followed the princess upstairs. Already Hiccup was frustrated and threw his arms up in the air. "What did I do?! She was the one calling us barbarians, right?!"

Stoic and Gobber decided not to say anything and just shrugged. Meanwhile Astrid came up to Hiccup's room and found the princess on the bed with her knees brought to her chest, and the wild mess of hair surrounded her as her face pressed to her knees.

"Um princess Merida? Hi we haven't been properly introduced I am Astrid Hofferson." Astrid said trying to be pleasant, but got no response. Trying again she sighed, "I am so sorry for the way Hiccup acted he is usually never like that."

"Why are ye here?" Merida finally asked miserably. It was a good question one that still confused Astrid. In principle she should be mad at the princess whom would soon be Hiccup's wife, jealous even. But Astrid had grown up in more ways then one, it was long ago decided that her and Hiccup would only be friends. Did she want to be Hiccup's wife? More than anything and just like every other girl in the village she dreamt of it. However blaming the princess whom had been kidnapped wouldn't change the facts and Astrid knew it. For Astrid she could at least be a good friend to Hiccup and make an effort to help him win the princess over.

"Because right now you need someone there for you. I know that this situation is frightening and nothing can be done to change it. But I still want to help you however little I can." Astrid said. Finally Merida peeked up at the blonde haired girl, whom offered her hand to her. "For starters a nice hot bath has been prepared for you, and you'll feel better."

Sighing Merida let the Viking girl lead her to the bath and closed the curtain allowing Merida privacy. "I also brought some warmer clothes, yours won't be warm enough for here. I hope they fit you right."

"Thank ye so much A wasnae expectin' kindness after what A said." Merida said softly as she removed her remaining clothes and slipped into the bath.

"I get why you said it, you were upset and being dragged here didn't help." Astrid replied as she sat down on the other side of the curtain. As the silence grew and both looked for things to say, Astrid thought on Heather whom was largely the reason for Astrid's understanding. After the incident involving her friend's family, the Book of Dragons and Alvin; Heather had returned home with her family. However because of the ordeal Heather and Astrid had become the best of friends.

More to the point Astrid kept in contact with Heather writing each other, lately the letters were about the war and what their villages were doing to prepare. Last Astrid had heard Heather and her parents were forced to flee when their village joined Alvin and were involved in some of the raids. They had kidnapped some poor Scottish sisters and were going to give them as a 'gifts' to Alvin. While Heather was no where near the fighter Astrid was, they still managed to rescue the sisters and escape before Alvin arrived. Still Heather described vividly how terrified the poor girls had been, and while the princess seemed a lot stronger then the girls described, the princess had to be terrified. Unable to make more conversation with the princess, Astrid stood. "I'll leave you to bathe. The bag of clothes is on the bed. Let me know if you need anything."

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**See told ya, mainly the concern was with the argument he has with Merida. Usually Merida character wise would be the more aggressive type, and Hiccup the shy type. However I wrote them as arguing because Hiccup kidnapped her, there is bound to be an argument. They are bound to 'butt heads' in a manner of speaking, so yes Hiccup is not acting like himself around her.**

**Okay I said enough, please feel free to review away.**


	5. Playing Tug-a-war with a Dragon

**Hello all,**

**Thanks for the lovely reviews. After all I do enjoy hearing from you guys. Anyway here is chapter 5.**

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Shortly after Astrid and Gobber left the Haddock house to go home, leaving Hiccup pacing. Feelings like an added wheel, Stoic decisively made himself scarce by going on patrol with Thornado. Meanwhile Toothless watched his friend's restless movements and his muttering. "What to do? What to do? How I do I fix this? Okay I go up and apologise, then...then... What do I do then?"

Hiccup resumed pacing trying to think of what more to say. He had to do more then apologise to her, he had to win her heart. What do the highlanders do when courting? Viking courtships would be a bit much for a Scottish princess after all. What did Scottish girl's like? Viking girls like Astrid liked weapons, maybe an axe or sword? No the princess would try skewering him. She'd already attacked him with a tree branch and boat ore. Okay no weapons, and besides that was what you give a Viking girl anyway. Armour? Ruffnut liked armour, no again Viking girl stuff. Merida was a Scottish princess, he needed to do something close to Scottish tradition of courting. As he thought further he focused on what he knew of the princess, she loved archery. No he didn't want to be a pincushion no bows or arrows, but then what else could he give her to show his desire to court her?

Finally he groaned and flopped in a nearby chair defeated before he began. "It's hopeless Toothless. I ruined everything in mere minutes."

Toothless stared at him wide eyed and curious as Hiccup rubbed his forehead to alleviate a fast growing headache. Then Toothless looked upstairs towards Hiccup's room then back at Hiccup. Toothless repeated the motion as if putting something together in his head. To Toothless it must have felt like it was all Merida's fault, she was making Hiccup so irritable. The dragon's eyes narrowed and Hiccup did not even notice his dragon head upstairs. For a moment Hiccup still thought Toothless by his side as he started to say. "I don't know-"

He was interrupted by Merida's scream and jumped upright, without thinking he ran straight for his room. Bursting into the room he was shocked at what he saw. Any other time Toothless' antics would have had him bursting out laughing, but this time his eyes were wide and his cheeks turned a solid red. Merida must have just gotten out of the bath and wrapped a towel about herself, but now it looked like Toothless was trying to pull her by said towel back downstairs. A type of tug-a-war began with Merida trying to keep the towel about her body. Blinking Hiccup shook himself out of his staring at them and stepped in to stop it. "Toothless no!"

The dragon immediately let go and looked back at Hiccup as if to ask: 'What? I am just trying to help.' Frowning he came up and patted Toothless before looking at the princess whom held the towel tightly to her and backed away. Seeing the terrified look in her eyes Hiccup held up his hands. "It's alright I won't hurt you, and I am sorry about all this." He gestured around them, and fell into the age old habit of rambling, "And for scaring you, and that Toothless come..."

Immediately Hiccup trailed off, he had tried to focus on her face rather then see her in such a vulnerable way, but it only worked so long. However what made him trail off was because he noticed something and a concerned look crossed his face. Wordlessly he came towards her as she backed away into a corner and he reached out for her. Merida knew she stood little chance with the dragon and Hiccup and immediately squeezed her eyes shut. She felt his fingers brush her hair back and lightly touch her shoulder.

"Oh gods, did I do that?" The words left Hiccup's mouth and sounded horrified, that was when Merida looked at him. He was staring and Merida followed his gaze to her dark blue bruised shoulder as his fingers lightly ran over the injury. "When did this happen? Why didn't you say anything?!"

That shocked her, she had not expected him to be concerned or even upset if she was injured. "Ye didnae ask, and why would A' tell ye?"

She had him there, she had no reason to tell him after all he kidnapped her. Still he thought back trying to recall when he could have caused her such an injury, but came up blank. "Merida when did this happen?"

Merida's eyes hardened then as she looked at him. "Why would A' tell ye?! A seem ta recall ye sayin' ye dinnae care what A' do! Selfish lil' princess hidin away in a castle, was what ye said."

Hiccup winced as she reminded him what he had said, but didn't retaliate and start another argument. "Please Merida! Tell me how your shoulder got injured!"

"A' injured it alright?! Ye need nae lose any sleep over it!" Her sarcastic and sharp tone almost had him yelling at her, but her answer shocked him too much.

"Why would do that? Injure yourself?"

"A' was practicin fer the war. Teachin my ma, and testin my limits. Nae that ye'd believe me after all A'd hide away in a castle and let others do the fightin fer me." Hiccup now stared slack jawed at her like she had sprouted wings. The princess was preparing to fight in the war? Why? Wasn't she a future ruler that needed to be protected?

"You were going to fight? But your the princess! Wouldn't you have to be protected or something?!"

"Yeah A'm the princess, and at first my da said nae to me fightin well until my ma and A' pointed out that royalty or nae none o' us would be safe even in a castle with Alvin and his dragons. So my da agreed ta let us fight as long as we do it at a distance." Merida explained as Hiccup stared at her shocked then shook his head to clear away his surprise.

"So you over exerted yourself and injured your shoulder." Hiccup stated as he ran his fingers through his hair and looked at the livid bruise, then sighed. It would take more then too much practice to cause such a bruise to form being kidnapped and yanked around probably made the injury worse. "Come on we need to treat the injury."

For the moment Hiccup forgot that Merida was wrapped in a towel as he led her to the bed and had her sit down then went to get some items from downstairs. Merida meanwhile would have gotten up and quickly dressed if not for Toothless sitting in the corner watching her curiously. Why had that dragon come up and tried to steal her towel anyway? Had Hiccup sent him up? Again the dragon moved towards her curious, and she scooted away on the bed. "Ye keep yer distance beastie, yer nae stealin my towel fer yer master."

Still Toothless came up and she was now backed against the headboard clutching the towel to her, but the dragon just tilted his head as he looked at her. "Please A' dunnae know what ye want."

"He is just curious is all." Hiccup said standing in the doorway holding a tray. Seeing Hiccup, Toothless quickly went back to his 'bed' and laid there watching the pair. "It's okay bud, I'm not going to yell at you."

Coming forward Hiccup sat the tray on the table by the bed and sat down across from Merida. "I also think he came up here to pull you downstairs to apologise. He didn't know what was going on and was trying to correct it."

"Ye mean ye dinnae send him?" Merida asked bluntly, and Hiccup looked at her wide eyed.

"Of course not, I was trying to think of a way to apologise and show my desire to court you when you screamed." Hiccup said as he dipped a cloth in some minty smelling water and gently pressed it to the bruise on her shoulder. For a Viking, Hiccup was surprisingly gentle and tried not to hurt her too much. Such a strange Viking after all weren't Vikings evil brutes without a conscience? For a few minute they sat in silence as Hiccup put some sort of herbal ointment on her shoulder.

"I donnae understand ye kidnap me then wanna court me?" Merida asked confused as he finished tending her shoulder. Was this some strange Viking courtship custom? Hiccup sighed openly before speaking.

"Look princess, please just hear me out first then you can resume yelling at me. I wanted to hold true to the terms of you finding love and marrying in your own time. But if there is a way to prevent this war then I will do what I must even if it's kidnap and marry you. Now despite the war being so close, I asked for time to do this right. I will try to win your heart before your hand as promised, but either way in a months time we will be married." Hiccup expected a string of curses from her, but she sat there wide-eyed. Again he blushed a deep red when he realised she only had a towel wrapped about her. Her wild red hair was still damp, and her fair skin was soft where he had touched. She was more beautiful then he remembered, and he would by lying if he tried to claim he was only going to marry her to stop a war and save his people.

Merida was shocked to silence as she now knew his plan. One way or another she'd be his wife in the next month, and it meant she had limited time to escape. She could not marry this man, he was her kidnapper and a Viking, she had to find a way off of this island and back to Scotland before the next month! While she planned to escape the island, Hiccup made plans to win her heart. However such plans would have to wait. Standing Hiccup picked up the tray and moved towards the door, it had been a stressful day and already the sun was setting. "Goodnight princess."

Merida sat there frozen for a few minutes after Hiccup had left the room, then relaxed some. Shivering she realised she was cold because she was still wrapped in a towel. Seeing the bundle of clothes Astrid left at the foot of the bed, Merida pulled the bundle to her and looked through the clothing. Since it was a trying day she put on the brown trousers and grey tunic on, but didn't bother with the brown leather vest or fur boots. Instead she laid down on the hard wooden bed and tried to sleep, but the hard flat bed was also part of the reason her shoulder pained her. So she laid there tossing and turning and so the dragon awoke a few times too seeing her trying to get comfortable.

Meanwhile downstairs Stoic had returned from his patrol and bid his son goodnight before heading to his own room. Hiccup again made his bed on the floor and laid down, but with images of Merida in nothing but a towel he found it equally hard to get to sleep.

* * *

As always Toothless wanted his morning flight and got impatient when Hiccup took too long. But after Hiccup had scolded his dragon to be quiet and not wake the princess the dragon gave an annoyed huff and narrowed his eyes. Hiccup knew Toothless wouldn't want to wait long and so prepared breakfast and scribbled a quick note. Once Merida's breakfast and note were on a tray he quietly left them on the counter by the bed and headed out. "Alright bud I get it, I get it! We're going."

Saddling Toothless up he quickly got on and Toothless showed his annoyance by taking off as fast as he could. Luckily Hiccup was holding on and could only sigh at how annoyed his friend was, at least they both were getting some fresh air. "Want to go on patrol bud?"

The responding purr and the way Toothless happily sped up was a clear yes and soon the pair were patrolling the eastern side of the island. They had not been flying long when Hiccup looked towards the bright red morning light. Bright red and beautiful like the Scottish princess still asleep in his bed, her wild hair flowing around her in every which way. His thoughts focused on her as he thought of her beautiful blue eyes like sapphires, her cheeks dusted with freckles that made her so lovely, and her soft pink lips. About then Hiccup was wondering what it would be like to kiss her, and instead was slapped with Toothless' ear as the dragon threw his head to the side to wake Hiccup up. He gave a disapproving grunt as though to say: 'Hey wake up!'

"Oh sorry Toothless just was ummm thinking about stuff and..." As Hiccup trailed off and his mind went back to Merida Toothless gave another disapproving grunt and again slapped Hiccup. "Alright I get it, sorry."

After a total of seven times slapping Hiccup and narrowly missing flying into a rock face their patrol ended and the pair landed back in Berk. Hiccup got off Toothless and started to head for the smithy to check with Gobber when whack! A sharp tail fin smacked Hiccup upside the head, and Hiccup whirled around to Toothless to find out why his friend did that. Toothless gave his grunt that sounded more like a laugh. As though to say: 'Next time no going off to La-la land!'

Rubbing the back of his head he sighed and went to see Gobber. "Did ye anger yer dragon too?"

No sooner had Hiccup enter the smithy, Gobber was giving him an amused smirk. "Yeah apparently I'm in trouble with everybody. Big surprise I know."

"Ha! Women and dragon troubles." Gobber laughed as he continued his work and was sharpening a sword. "She's nae as easily tamed as a dragon, is she?"

"No, I think I prefer facing dragons instead." Hiccup groaned annoyed as he put his apron on and looked for something to do.

"Alright tell ol' Gobber what happened." Gobber said as he put the sharpened sword away.

"Where do I start? First she tries beating me up twice, then she irritates me to the point I am snappish with everyone including Toothless. I discover last night she had a bruised shoulder and feel like an idiot for saying she's a spoilt princess that would let others do the fighting for her when she is over practising for the war! To top it all off I just keep messing up and making everything worse instead of better!" Hiccup said now completely annoyed and frustrated.

"Ah women can be frustratin creatures lad. They're very hard ta understand, and it's the one that catches ye off guard and frustrates ye that fascinates a man most. That bein said ye have been interested in Merida since ye saw her at the archery competition, yer da told me all about the way ye looked at her shootin arrows at each targit."

"Yeah so? What does that have to do with right now?" Hiccup asked impatiently, and thinking back to that time. As far as he recalled he had been impressed by Merida's skill, but not much else. It had been three years and upon returning home he was busy with the dragons, training, and now the impending war he must have forgotten some of what went on.

"Hiccup, yer da said that awestruck look ye gave Merida is the same look yer da gave when he first saw yer ma. Ye may be frustrated and annoyed, she may even drive ye crazy even but nae forget yer ma did the same ta yer da." Gobber said pointedly.

"How did my dad cope? What did he do to win my mom over?" Hiccup asked, it was so rare to hear about his mom and dad, and it was something he rarely brought up to his dad.

"Well if A remember right yer da and A were both tryin to get her attention. We almost came ta fightin over her, but she nae showed an interest in either o' us. Finally yer da did somethin stupid: he got so annoyed he challenged her. The two spared fer so long they were nearin exhaustion and it was an even match. Fer a few minutes A thought yer da was gonna lose horribly. Then he used his shield ta knock her ta the ground, her sword went flyin and she was on the ground stunned. Still annoyed yer da yanked her ta her feet and kissed her. After that Stoic won her heart."

"A duel and a kiss? That's it? I don't think a duel or a kiss will win this princess over. What do I do Gobber? I have only a month and the first couple of days have been a nightmare. How am I going to even get her to 'like' me let alone fall in love with this?" Hiccup gestured to himself.

"Ye just gestured ta all of ye." Gobber dead panned, then sighed. The boy had grown up viewing himself as useless and one whom always messed up. Training dragons, defeating the green death, and saving the clan didn't change his view of himself any. Reminding the young man that he was now the most desired Viking in the clan only made Hiccup roll his eyes, so Gobber didn't bother. "Hmm maybe yer lookin at this all wrong. A' mean ye trained dragons, yer the tamer o' the beasts. Maybe do as ye did wit' Toothless ta win her."

"You mean treat her as though I am trying to train a dragon?!" Hiccup asked looking at Gobber like he had just confessed to being a woman.

"In a manner o' speakin' yeah. Use the same tactics ye used ta discover what Toothless liked and dinnae like. O' course dunnae try ta offer her the raw fish." Gobber teased towards the end, but he did have a point. The biggest question was would that even work? Five minutes alone with her and he would become as cranky as Mildew. Maybe he should try to calm down first.

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**Author's Note: Just wanted to say that while I don't write direct thoughts on what Toothless thinks I try to convey what he thinks through his actions and the noises he makes. Hence the little towel scene.**

**Well I hope you all enjoy, and please review away.**


	6. Observing the Princess

**Hello all, **

**Than you again for the lovely reviews. Here is a bit longer chapter which I hope you enjoy.**

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Back at the Haddock home, Merida finally woke when she rolled over and a sharp pain rolled through her shoulder. Hiccup may have tended the injury, but the hard bed was not something the princess was used to and her injured shoulder had a good way of reminding her of that fact. Getting up she rubbed her irritated shoulder and found Toothless was not in his bed, looking about she soon found the tray with breakfast on it and a note. The note was folded in half and judging by the scribbled handwriting it was Hiccup whom wrote it for her.

_Merida,_

_I took Toothless out for his morning flight otherwise he gets cranky. I also made you breakfast and ask that you make yourself at home. I know that you do not like the situation, but I don't want you to feel like a prisoner. Please feel free to wonder the village, the people of Berk would make you feel welcome._

_Hiccup_

Merida put the letter back and picked up an apple, but didn't feel hungry. Normally she would explore, she loved exploring the woods around DunBroch castle. However exploring a Viking town that she was kidnapped and brought to didn't sound like a good idea. Still sitting on the bed, Merida rolled the apple between her two hands and tried to think of what best to do. He had left her alone which meant he knew she couldn't escape the island. Maybe she could use that, after all she was very resourceful; an idea formed in Merida's mind making her smirk. Oh she would explore alright, but not the village. Hopping up out of bed she put on the leather vest and boots and found a small leather satchel bag to put her apple in. Heading down stairs she almost ran into Chief Stoic as she was leaving.

"Ah good morning Princess. I hope you slept well." Merida stared up as the Viking whom was about the same size as her father and intimidated her despite his pleasant words.

"Aye..." Merida swallowed a few times trying to keep herself calm. "Aye, A' did. Hiccup said A' could explore."

"Relax princess it's not like I'm going to hurt you. Your going to be family soon after all. Go on explore away, oh and be careful if you venture into the woods. Some of the dragons there are not used to outsiders, your not used to dragons and so one wrong move and the dragons there might take offence." Stoic said heading for the door, the pleasant and relaxed way the Chief spoke made Merida throw caution to the wind and follow him out.

"Ye seem awfully certain A' will marry yer son, Chief Stoic." Merida said, as Stoic stopped moving towards the stables and Thornado and turned to look at her. He let out a weighted sigh as he took in her posture and her arms folded across her chest.

"Princess my son is different but in a good way. The only thing that he has gotten from me is my stubborn streak, once he decides something nobody can talk him out of it. Even though he doesn't want to make you do this, he has decided to do this for his people. Hiccup won't change his mind, in a month he will marry you. All I can ask is that you give him a chance because before he tamed a Night Fury nobody gave him a chance." Stoic turned away to prepare Thornado wanting to avoid a potential argument with the girl.

"And why should A' give him a chance after he kidnapped me?" Merida asked stiffly.

"Because either way your marrying him in a months time. It's best if you just accept that and give him a chance to prove himself to you." Stoic said not looking back as he went to Thornado.

"Nae, A' will nae marry yer son, and ye should know A' have just as great a stubborn streak." Merida replied firmly now more determined than ever, Stoic's greatest mistake was telling her to 'just accept what was to happen'. It was the one thing you never said to her, after all when her mother had said that to her, she turned her mother into a bear to get out of marriage. However Stoic just chuckled saying she would make a great wife for Hiccup, then flew off on Thornado. Even though he was long gone, Merida smirked as she said more to herself. "Ye can keep dreamin that, but A' would sooner be eaten by a dragon then wed a Vikin."

Now alone, she decided to do just as she planned it was time to explore the island. If she could learn everything possible about it she could find a way to escape and avoid marrying the Viking. Taking off she ran, she wanted to map out the island as quickly as possible and do it hopefully without any of the Viking people knowing what she was up to. She was also trying to put as much distance between herself and the Viking village, Merida only stopped to catch her breath a few time and look at the area. She was fortunate to find a jagged rock, which she used to carve a symbol into a nearby tree to help her know where she had been and know that she had mentally mapped the area. Afterwards she would move on running and putting more distance between her and the Viking Village.

As she stopped and scratched another mark into a tree, she soon sat down to rest a moment until she saw the one thing she never expected on Berk. Standing she looked shocked as she stared at the lovely blue glow of a Will-o'-the-wisp, and her heart picked up in beats. Of course the wisps led one to their fate, they'd help her right? Moving forward she was within touching range when it disappeared and she saw a trail of them leading off into the woods. Following them they lead her to a cove with a lake in the middle.

"Alright and why did ye lead me here?" Merida asked as she placed her hands on her hips and looked at the wisps, but they merely led off towards a cave in the cove. A place to hide away from Hiccup and the other Vikings she thought and so looked at the cave. There was no wild creatures which meant it was perfect for using as a camp for the night besides she didn't want to go back and accept she had no choice. Besides she had camped before, so she decided to gather as much wood for a fire and place it in the cave. After that she did as she had when her mother was a bear and caught some fish barehanded., before returning to the cave. Being a survivalist as much as a princess she knew how to look after herself. Slowly the day moved on and the sun was quickly descending, soon she would need to start a fire.

As she rose to do just that she saw the faint blue glow, as a Wil'o the wisp appeared in front of her and just sat there. Strange these little blue wisps usually appeared always just out of reach and would lead you somewhere. This one just sat there and there was no others to led her anywhere. Sitting back down Merida stared awestruck at the small glowing wisp. The wisps usually made some sort of soft noise like wind being blown, but faintly she heard a soft giggle on the edge of hearing. Curious Merida reached out to touch it as the blue glow grew ever brighter and was soon lighting the entire cave in an eerie blue light. Then just as she was going to touch it, the wisp vanished leaving the cave dark.

* * *

It took a lot of persuasion on Gobber's part to get Hiccup to stop destroying the blade he was working on and go talk to the princess. Stoic had been by briefly to tell them that he saw the princess venture into the woods. At first Hiccup preferred to beat his frustrations out using a hammer on what was suppose to become a sword. While Gobber's advice did have merit, Hiccup wanted to vent his frustration so he would be less likely to snap at anyone. Now the ruined piece of metal would have to be re-melted down, but at least Hiccup had finally left. If this kept up Hiccup would ruin anything made in the shop! As Hiccup moved towards Toothless to look for Merida the lovable black dragon was still angry and dashed away whenever Hiccup tried to get on.

"Please fer the sake o' every blade in here, take Hiccup ta find the princess!" Gobber pleaded causing the dragon to stop and give a huff before letting Hiccup on. Then they shot off into the sky and Hiccup patted his friend.

"I'm sorry bud, I seem to be messing up more then usual." Hiccup said looking down at Berk, "I know your mad at me too, and that you don't get why I am acting like this. Heck I don't even know why I am acting like this, she just-no sorry that's not right. She has every right to be angry at me. Anyway I'm sorry bud." Looking at Toothless, Hiccup was pleased to be forgiven when he heard the usual guttural purr coming from his friend.

Soon the pair were off looking for the princess and getting nowhere fast. The sun would soon be setting and they were still looking for Merida. "See anything bud?"

Toothless' snort was a no as they kept looking, then Toothless tilted his head and swooped down and low as though he had seen something. Hiccup followed his gaze and held on tight as his dragon landed. "What is that?"

The strange blue glimmer of light had Toothless jumping after them like a cat as Hiccup held on and wondered what they were. Following a trail of them the pair soon found themselves back where they first met. The trail ended in the centre of the cove and so Hiccup hopped off of Toothless. "Well that was weird, what were those blue glowy things?"

Toothless just tilted his head at Hiccup as though to say he didn't know, but they were fun to chase. Looking about the cove, Hiccup soon noticed the old cave they used to use. There was a strange blue glow emanating from the cave, as he moved towards the cave Toothless followed just as curious. Then as he entered the entrance to the cave he saw Merida reaching for the blue light, just before it disappeared. "Merida?"

The soft gasp was his response and he glanced at Toothless whom as a night fury clearly saw her. "What was that blue glow?"

Merida visibly shivered at the thought that maybe, just maybe the wisps led Hiccup and his dragon straight to her. Hiccup couldn't be her fate could he? Yes wisps led a person to their fate, but no it just wasn't possible! The wisps must have been keeping her company and Hiccup just happened to see them. Merida was not eager to believe that the wisps had led Hiccup to her on purpose, besides he didn't even know what they were. "That? That was nothin',"

Hiccup stood there a moment thinking, she obviously knew what they were. However he was willing to drop the subject for now and move onto more important ones. Subjects that usually ended with them yelling at each other, but how to talk and have it not end up as a fight? He decided on a less harmful subject. "So..." He coughed, "You found our secret place?"

"What?"

"This is where I first found Toothless, he and I come here at times to think." Hiccup said trying to keep things simple.

"Great the wisps did lead me here ta be found by ye." Merida growled feeling betrayed even by the wisps.

"Sorry wisps?" Hiccup asked, trying to get the princess to talk to him without yelling.

"Never ye mind," She sighed her tone saddened as she sat in the darkened cave, soon she was playing with her wild red curls twisting them around her fingers as she thought.

"Princess? I know you want to be alone, but it will be getting dark soon and it will get a lot colder out here. Please let me take you back to my house, I promise to leave you alone once we get home." Hiccup said gently.

"A' dunnae want ta go back. A' wanna go home." Merida's soft voice made Hiccup cringe even though she was still concealed by the cave's shadows, he could well imagine how she looked. Nervously he rubbed his neck trying to think of something to say, all the while Toothless looked back and forth between the two expectantly. The dragon seemed to get the gist of what was going on: the girl was upset, and his rider was trying to make her happy.

"I know, I know you do and believe me I want to; but I can't." Hiccup sighed.

"Ye mean ye won't." Merida sighed and leaned forward gathering some sticks together to make a fire. Once a makeshift fire was made she turned to pick up two rocks to make a spark all the while boy and dragon had not moved. Toothless recognised the makeshift fire place as Hiccup had made them before, so as was habit Toothless moved forward and opened his mouth releasing a bolt. Soon the cave was illuminated by the light, and Merida looked to the boy and dragon surprised. Hiccup gave a shy shrug as the princess set the rocks down and looked towards the flames. Tired of standing in the entrance Hiccup took a seat across from her and an awkward silence followed.

"So how is your shoulder? Feeling better?" Hiccup tried.

"Still stiff, yer bed dinnae help." Merida replied as she poked the fire.

"My bed? What's wrong with it?" Hiccup asked perplexed how his bed had caused further problems.

"Yer bed is just flat wooden boards. We Scots are used to softer beddin'." Merida pointed out.

"Oh," Hiccup could only say thinking on ways to remedy the situation. He could put some layers of furs down to make it softer for the princess.

"Ye might as well head back A' ain't goin'." Merida said firmly.

"Well then I am not going anywhere until you come back with me." Hiccup replied, he could be just as stubborn as her. Merida glared up at him, but he only gave a croaked smile and leaned back against the cave wall to make himself comfortable. Merida looked away to avoid interacting with the annoying Viking, while Hiccup remembered his conversation with Gobber. 'Use the tactics he used to bond with Toothless'. The first step in this tactic: observe. So he pulled out his journal and a piece of charcoal and did as he had with Toothless he began to draw her. Meanwhile Toothless laid down in the cave entrance and watched the two curiously.

Feeling two sets of eyes on her, Merida tried to hide behind her hair and ignore those with her. Eventually she glanced back at Hiccup to see him drawing. "What are ye doin?"

"Drawing." Hiccup said simply.

"Ye draw?" Merida asked as her brow raised, and he merely nodded. "Ye any good?"

"I guess." Hiccup shrugged.

"What are ye drawin'?" Merida asked as she watched him.

"Uhhh I'm well..." Hiccup blushed as he tried to think of what to say, then guessed truth was best even if it resulted in her yelling at him. "I'm drawing you."

Merida visibly blushed and looked away, amongst her suitors Wee Dingwall was the only other artistic one. Hiccup had gotten very good at drawings and since Merida didn't yell at him he continued to draw her even as she hid behind a red curtain of hair. As time slowly went on, Merida grew bored of sitting there and being drawn by the Viking and so she picked up a stick to draw in the dirt. However rather then draw a person she drew a symbol. The Celtic symbol for strength because if she was to survive this nightmare she'd need lots of strength. Catching her drawing in the dirt, Hiccup pretended to still draw her as he copied the symbol in his journal, meanwhile Toothless perked up as he watched Merida draw in the dirt.

"What is that?" Hiccup finally asked.

"It's the symbol fer strength and courage." Merida said still drawing, when she finally sighed, "Look A' know ye want me ta marry ye, but A' can't so please just take me home. A' promise A'll make somethin' up and nobody will know it was ye that kidnapped me."

Hiccup closed his book and sighed he knew the subject would come up and that it had been only a matter of time. "I can't princess."

"Sure ye can, please."

"No I can't, okay? I would love for it to be that simple, but everyone is counting on me to do the right thing even if it's something hard. If I don't marry you, if I take you back my village will suffer for it. They'll suffer by your father's or Alvin's hands, I'm sorry." Hiccup ran his fingers through his hair.

Meanwhile Merida wanted to scream in frustration as she looked away from the Viking. She had fought so hard to avoid being made to marry someone she didn't want, she had even turned her mother into a bear. She did not fight so hard to gain her freedom only to have it snatched away by this Viking. To top it all off she hated Vikings for all they had done not just to her people but her family, she could never do it. Every time she thought about being wed to the Viking Hiccup she shivered and thought a blade to the heart would be preferable. Did she want a war and people to get hurt? No, and even if wed it would not stop Alvin from attacking. She was grown up enough to know a single marriage would not avert a war. Merida could see where Hiccup was coming from, but he would never understand where she was coming from. "Please understand Hiccup A' can't and will nae marry ye."

"Would you at least give me the chance to win your heart?" Hiccup asked, but something told him she never had wanted to give him a chance, and he leaned his head against the cave wall. Story of his life no one wanted to give him a chance. Merida stood and turned to the exit, she came out here to get away from the Vikings. Only to find Toothless still there in the entrance to the cave and was watching her with his head tilted slightly to the side. Seeing the princess move, Hiccup put away his journal and stood up behind her. "Please princess give me a chance."

"A' can't! Can ye nae understand?! Yer a Vikin' yer people have hurt mine and my family. Yer people robbed, raided, rapped, and murdered my people fer years. Ye took mothers, sisters, daughters from their families dragged 'em off ta yer wee Vikin' clans and forced 'em to become 'slave wives'. And dunae tell me yer clan did none o' it! A' ain't stupid or naïve enough to believe yer clan innocent!" Merida said her eyes brimming with tears. She was right of course every Viking clan at one point raided the coastal towns of Scotland. Before his father became chief, he knew his grandfather took part in the raids. Most of the raids done by his clan was because the dragons would take what was needed to survive a winter, but there were those within his clan that had taken pleasure in the raids. Heck Gobber's mother was one unfortunate Scottish maiden dragged to Berk and forced into 'marriage', he knew his clan was not innocent! He also knew how to read people, and the princess before him read thus: she had lost someone close and dear to her because of Vikings.

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**Author's Note:**

**I just wanted to point out, that I have a storyline for this story or a direction I am going with this. There is an underlying story behind Merida's feelings towards the Vikings it is not just a random hated at all. Yes she is protective of her people whom have suffered because of the Vikings but it is a lot deeper than that. I wanted to point that out in case anyone thinks she is overly prejudice towards the Vikings or is acting immature ect. In later chapters it will made known why she is flat out refusing to marry a Viking and why death is preferable to her. But don't be discouraged by this it is Hiccup trying to win her heart, and if you stick around I think you'll like where I go with this.**

**Anyway feel free to review away.**


	7. First Kisses & Making Friends

**Hello all,**

**Thank you for a lovely reviews, always good to hear from the readers! Well here is chapter 7 and a lot happens in this one so it is a bit lengthier. Anyway I hope you enjoy it.**

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Whatever it was that caused Merida to hate Vikings, Hiccup was determined to learn why. However right then he decided he would not push just then, but whatever it was had to be horrible to get the princess to start crying. Merida was quickly wiping the tears on her sleeves and trying to recover from her breakdown. Not wanting to be seen as weak she tried to move past the dragon blocking the cave entrance to get outside. But before she could an arm came around her waist and turned her back to Hiccup who pulled her to him and held her there. At first she tried to squirm lose not wanting to be held by the Viking that kidnapped her. Not realising how cold she had been, Merida soon found herself relaxing a little into the warm hug. It took her a moment to realise Hiccup was apologising for what his clan and other clans did to her people.

Hiccup was just about to ask her to let him take her back to the village, when the crack of thunder made him groan. A moment later the downpour of hard rain, "Looks like were sleeping in the cave tonight bud."

At first the princess moved to the furthest corner to go to sleep, and Hiccup didn't try to argue with her on the choice. He remembered he had not pushed Toothless when they first met, so he couldn't push the princess. As it continued to rain and got colder as night move on, Merida awoke shivering from the cold. In the faint coals of the fire she saw Hiccup across from her asleep under the protective wing of Toothless. Sitting up Merida tried to warm her cold hands over the remains of the fire. She had not thought either awake until she heard Hiccup sigh. "Princess it would be warmer under Toothless' wing."

It took a lot of urging for Hiccup to get Merida to lay down next to Toothless and him under Toothless' wing, and even then Merida was nervous. Toothless and Hiccup soon fell asleep again, but the princess remained awake as she watched the Viking. She had to admit he was handsome and while not as big as other Viking boys, he was not a 'toothpick' any more. He was also caring even though he did kidnap her, if only he wasn't a Viking. In an ideal world she would have picked him, but Vikings were evil barbarians and picking him was not an option. Eventually she fell asleep beneath Toothless' wing.

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As morning came Toothless naturally would wake first, but since his rider was beneath his wing he remained still. Especially with the flame haired girl sleeping against Hiccup, instead the dragon closed his eyes and relaxed as he waited for the two humans to wake on their own. It didn't take long Hiccup woke next, a mental alarm clock was set knowing Toothless would want to go flying. However someone was in his arms and his eyes opened wide as he looked at her asleep. Her face was mere inches from his and her breath fanned his face as his heart skipped a beat. For a moment he laid there afraid to move or wake her as he studied her face. Again he moved without fully thinking things through as he gently brushed her wild red hair back from her face, his finger tips skimmed over her cheek and down her jaw to her chin. Curious he ran his thumb over her lips to discover that they were soft, now he was really curious. Sure he had been kissed before, but Astrid kissed him, and her lips were harder. It was becoming a common occurrence to do things without thinking around Merida as he leaned in closer. He stopped just short of their lips touching as he hesitated then gently pressed his lips down on hers.

Better then free falling with Toothless, Hiccup had never kissed a girl like this and it was amazing. Wanting to push the envelope he kissed her a little deeper and her mouth parted as a soft moan escaped her lips. However soon her eyes fluttered open and she awoke to being kissed. For Merida she had never kissed anyone or been kissed and what was worse was it was Hiccup kissing her! The sensation just before she opened her eyes was amazing, but then a sense of panic rushed over her especially since it was a Viking kissing her! With a great shove, Hiccup was pushed away and she quickly rolled to her feet when Toothless lifted his wing. Instantly the cold morning air rushed around her waking her fully.

Hiccup quickly got to his feet too, but stumbled some as he stood upright and faced the princes. "Ye! How could ye do that?! Just kiss me like A' belong to ye or somethin'?!"

"I'm sorry Merida, I wasn't thinking. Oh geez I messed up again. I just- you were so close and your lips looked so soft and... and that's not helping. I just wasn't thinking and am sorry." Hiccup was rambling as he followed Merida out of the cave. Toothless had backed away when both wanted up, the girl was upset again, and Hiccup was apologising for something he did. Either way the dragon was confused and so gave them space as he watched the scene. Merida was trying to walk away as Hiccup kept following and apologising. "I-you were so beautiful and I just wanted to kiss a girl not be kissed by a girl. And I know this looks bad, but that kiss was amazing and I'm sorry for upsetting-"

"What?!" Merida whirled surprised to hear him say he thought her beautiful and that the kiss was amazing. Hiccup merely turned a darker shade of red and gave his croaked smile unsure if he should repeat what he had just said. As the princess turned away again, Hiccup slapped his hand to his forehead then looked at Toothless for help. However the dragon just looked back and forth between the two with a curious expression. Meanwhile Merida bit her lip and hid in her curly hair as she faced away from Hiccup. How could he just kiss her like that without permission? Shaking her head she needed him to go so she could find a way off this island before he tried something else. Turning back to Hiccup she glared at him. "A' wanna be alone fer a while."

Rather then argue Hiccup sighed knowing he messed up royally, and so nodded. "Yes princess."

Turning away Hiccup called Toothless to him and quickly got on his dragon before taking off. Once out of sight Merida breathed a sigh of relief and looked around the cove. She was glad to be alone again and have time to think, the Viking was confusing her too much and making her plans to escape even harder._ 'Don't let that sweet smile and kind attitude fool you! He is a vicious evil Viking whom just wants to trick you into marrying him!' _Merida thought bitterly, _'He kidnapped you after all doesn't that show you the type of person he is?! Just focus on escaping this place before your forced to marry him!'_

Moving off she decided she needed to know more about the island to try and escape it. Mapping it out as she had the woods back home was the easiest way to know the best routes of escape and that would mean exploring the island further. Meanwhile Hiccup had intended to go back to the village, but Toothless had other plans and kept trying to land. Hiccup did as the dragon wanted instead of ignoring him and no sooner had he got off to ask Toothless what was up the dragon dashed off back towards the cove. As they reached the edge of the cove Toothless stopped short and didn't dare reveal himself to the one they had left alone.

"Toothless! Why did you do that?" Hiccup whispered as he caught up. Again the dragon looked back and forth between his rider and the red head until Hiccup caught on. Of course! Even if she didn't know he was there he could observe her and learn more about her! "Good thinking bud."

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**Back in Berk...**

"Thank you again Astrid for letting my family and I stay here. We would've accepted the invitation to stay in Scotland, but we were worried some of the people there would blame us for the attacks. Are you sure it's okay that we stay?"

"Oh don't worry about it, Heather." Astrid replied, "The gang will be glad to see you, and I'll help you hide when Snotlout comes to bug you." Heather and her family had just arrived in Berk after dropping the two Scottish sisters back at home weeks before, and so to make them feel at home Astrid and her mother were letting them stay with them.

"It is just we don't want to impose." Heather's mother, Sigrunn; spoke up.

"Really it's no problem, besides if it gets crowded we could always build you a place to stay here." Astrid suggested.

"That was my daughter's innocent way to ask you three to make Berk your permanent home." Astrid's mother, Ingrid; spoke up. "For now Astrid you and Heather go find your friends and let them know the good news. I will take Heather's parents on a tour and inform Stoic." Excited Astrid and Heather dashed out the door and nearly ran into Ruffnut.

"Astrid Chief Stoic wants to see you it's about Hiccup." Ruffnut then noticed Heather, "Oh hey Heather didn't know you had come back."

"I only arrived with my family this morning." Heather said trying to be polite.

"Wait, what about Hiccup?" Astrid asked.

"Well all I know is Hiccup was agitated and messed up a sword he was making in Gobber's shop, so Gobber finally got Hiccup and Toothless to get to know the princess. But he left yesterday to go get her before she would get eaten by dragons or something. Neither of them ever came home last night though, so since your close to Hiccup he wanted to know if you'd seen him." Ruffnut explained, in some sense Ruffnut was much smarter than her twin Tuffnut, but not by much. Astrid had not had the chance to explain to Heather about the kidnapped princess now on the island, nor that Hiccup would be getting married in a matter of weeks. Looking back at Heather her eyes were wide with shock.

"What princess?"

"Well you see the daughter of the Scottish king is here, princess Merida."

"What's a Scottish princess doing in Berk?" Heather asked.

"Hiccup kidnapped her and the two of them are suppose to marry to end this war. Which totally sucks." Ruffnut said, and Astrid face palmed.

"Astrid, please tell me Ruffnut is joking." Heather said nervously.

"I wish she was Heather, but she isn't. Hiccup is to marry the princess in about four weeks time." Astrid went into detail as the three girls walked around the village. Briefly Astrid stopped by to speak to Stoic and explain she had not seen Hiccup or Merida.

"Well perhaps you and your friends wouldn't mind keeping an eye out for them if you venture outside the village?" Stoic asked as the girls were leaving.

"Of course not, if we see them we'll report back." Astrid spoke up and soon they left the chief's house.

"Hopefully the princess will be eaten by a dragon." Ruffnut grumbled earning her glares from Astrid and Heather. "What?"

"Really Ruffnut? Are you that jealous of her? She doesn't even want to be here any more than you want her to be." Astrid pointed out.

"Well then why don't we take her back to Scotland?" Heather asked looking at the other two.

"Umm maybe because the Chief would skin us alive." Ruffnut said trying to sound smarter than she was.

"That is part of the reason," Astrid sighed, "The other part of the reason is it's too late to take her back."

"It's morning Astrid." Ruffnut was again trying to be smart.

"No what I mean is even if we did take her back, King Fergus would know we kidnapped her and our alliance to the Scots would vanish. Next we would be alone fighting Alvin and every other Viking clan out there. So basically we have no choice now but for Hiccup to marry her."

"But it is wrong Astrid." Heather started to say then was going to list the reasons why it was wrong.

"I know! Look I know it is wrong, just like I know I shouldn't be jealous that she will become Hiccup's wife. But I am I can't help it I just am." Astrid groaned as Heather and Ruffnut looked at her surprised. "I need some air, I'm going for a flight on Stormfly."

"Wait we'll come with you." Heather spoke up.

"We will?" Ruffnut asked confused then considered it as she looked at Heather, "Well I guess it would be more fun since Tuffnut is fixing that roof he blew up, and I do need a second rider to do any damage."

Soon the three Vikings girls flew off for some fresh air leaving behind Berk as they flew about the island. The fresh air was doing Astrid some good and helping her think more clearly. Yes she was jealous of the idea that Merida would soon be wed to Hiccup, but knowing the princess did not want to wed him helped some. In a way it was not a matter of Merida 'stealing' Hiccup from her, and so it made Merida more likeable. However for ones like Ruffnut they did not see it that way. At least her and Heather had a bit more understanding in the area.

"So what now? We're up too high to blow anything up." Ruffnut called over the wind as they flew. Astrid could only shake her head, leave it to Ruffnut's destructive tendencies to ruin the quiet moment.

"We are getting some fresh air is all Ruffnut." Heather replied

"That is so boring, blowing stuff up always makes me feel better." Both Astrid and Heather shook their heads as they continued to fly around the outskirts of the island. Because of the impending war with Alvin no one flew far from the island for safety sake. Mainly the three girls flew around the island much like it was done when on patrol. For the most part they were quiet, well other than Ruffnut expressing her boredom at lack of explosions. After a few minutes however Ruffnut spoke up again. "Hey guys-"

"For the last time Ruffnut were not going to blow stuff up!" Astrid interrupted.

"No I mean what is that?" Ruffnut pointed to a section on the beach, and both Viking girls squinted to see what Ruffnut was pointing at. At this distance it was something red, and moving.

"Let's go check." Astrid replied and both dragons swooped lower with their riders. As they flew lower and closer, Astrid's eyes widened. "It's Merida!"

Ruffnut groaned wishing she had not seen the princess, whom must have heard the flapping of wings and looked up at them. She knew Astrid would want to talk to the princess and wordlessly they landed not far from the princess. "Hey Merida."

The princess sighed obviously she had wanted to be left alone. "Hello Astrid. Who are yer friends?"

"Oh this is Heather she is from a neighbouring clan that has joined Alvin, so she and her family had to flee. She's a good friend," Astrid had been gesturing to the raven haired Viking, then gestured to the other blonde haired Viking that Merida recognised from the other day, "And this one is the twin Ruffnut, her brother Tuffnut is having to make repairs; needless to say he is grounded from flying until further notice."

"A pleasure ta meet ye both." Merida answered dully. The four fell silent unsure of what else to say finally Astrid tried to get a conversation going. "So... exploring the island, Merida?"

"Ye could say that." Merida replied cryptically as she brushed back her hair out of her face only to have it fall in the way. She had hoped to explore without anyone finding her and stopping her. If they knew they would try to stop her she was sure. "A also wanted ta be alone and get away from Hiccup."

"Your avoiding Hiccup?" Astrid asked surprised, but she then thought about it. Why wouldn't she avoid him after what he said the other night.

"Is she insane avoiding Hiccup?" Ruffnut asked bluntly.

"I told you Ruffnut she doesn't want to be here, be nice." Astrid replied then looked back at Merida, "Sorry Ruffnut sometimes doesn't get things. That aside I think if you spent more time with him, you would find Hiccup to be a very nice guy."

"Oh A' spent time wit' him and learned plenty now A wanna avoid him." Merida said not wishing to elaborate on just how she had gotten to know the Viking. Especially since she had never been kissed before and he had had no right to do that to her.

"Okay," Astrid replied trying to be nice and welcoming, "You know though you will have to interact with him more. I mean you can't stay out here in the wilds it is getting to the dead of winter, you would freeze Merida. I mean I would have you stay at my house, but Heather and her family are staying with me, it would be too crowded."

The concern in Astrid's voice made Merida do a double take, why would this female Viking be so concerned over her safety? Obviously Astrid felt bad about this entire situation, but would not help her get out of it. Perhaps if Astrid did try to help her, she would get into a lot of trouble. Something told Merida that she did want to help her off of Berk, but was just as helpless in the situation. Knowing that, Merida found that despite the girl being a Viking she couldn't be rude or cold towards her or her friends. After all Merida imagined that even female Vikings were treated poorly.

Astrid seemed to notice the uncertain expression on Merida's face and took advantage to try and urge her to return to the Viking village. "Please Merida, even in Viking clothes the winters here are a bit much even by Viking standards. None of us want you to freeze to death."

Ruffnut gave a snort, which made Astrid turn and glare at her fellow Viking. The deadly glare transmitted the words easily. 'Shut up Ruffnut!' Then Astrid looked back to Merida hoping the red head did not catch what went on between the two Vikings. Heather took the opportunity to agree with Astrid. "Astrid is right, I mean I know you must feel that Berk is not a safe place for you. But it is safer then braving the harsh cold weather here."

For a long time Merida stood silently thinking as the Viking girls watched her hopefully, then gave a disheartened sigh. "Alright A'll return wit ye, but if Hiccup touches me A'll beat him senseless! Understand? A want it made clear as day ta him and his da that he is not ta touch me!"

Astrid could understand that, after all this princess was a master archer and a warrior according to the stories she heard of the competition. Any warrior did not like being pushed around, this was bordering on pushing a fellow warrior around. Merida was merely laying down ground rules if she was to return to Berk, and if Astrid was to get Merida back to the village she knew she had to agree. "I can understand that."

"Really?" Merida asked in disbelief.

"When Stoic and Hiccup returned from the competition three years ago they described you as a master archer and excellent in a fight. A warrior right?"

"Aye." Merida replied perplexed.

"Well, I was raised and taught to be a warrior myself. One of the lessons taught is a warrior must be treated with respect and honour. Without respect or honour we are nothing, so it would go against everything I have been taught if I don't respect and honour your wishes." Astrid explained which seemed to sooth Merida some. The Viking girl viewed her as a warrior?

"They told ye about the competition? What all did they say?" Merida asked.

"They talked about the entire competition, and bear incident." Astrid admitted, "My favourite part was the part where you fought off the lords, and your father to protect your mother. Stoic said you fight better than some Viking women he knew." _'Oh great no wonder they are insistent on me marrying Hiccup!' _Merica groaned as it struck her impressing Vikings was usually a bad thing. Still it was nice to hear her skills were appreciated and admired. Many people viewed her as some delicate stuffy princess that was afraid of breaking a nail.

"A- thank ye. It is nice ta be noticed fer who A really am nae just my title. Usually people view me as this prissy weaklin princess whom spends her days in a castle and doin girlly things."Merida had to admit she wished girls back home were like Astrid and Heather, but most were learning to be servants or proper ladies. Which was probably why she had no girls her age as friends, just Angus and her family. _'Well at least I get along with someone on this island.' _The four girls didn't take off right away, they had a full day yet, and so Astrid decided she would try to learn more about Merida to help Hiccup. Instead Astrid said they could explore the island with her and tell her more about Berk before heading back.

As they moved about the island Astrid told Merida all about Hiccup shooting down Toothless and how they became friends. She talked about how all the events leading up to the Green Death, and even the start of the dragon academy. Eventually they talked of Alvin trying to get a hold of Hiccup and learn his secrets and even when Heather came into the picture. "So Alvin tried ta learn the secrets ta tamin dragons?"

"Exactly, that creep has been after Hiccup and the book of Dragons from day one. We still don't know how he has learned to tame dragons, and with the threat of war we don't have time to figure it out." Astrid explained. As they walked on exploring further, Merida soon repeated the story to Heather about the competition three years ago and changing her mom into a bear, since Heather was the only one that had not heard the story before.

"Wow all that to escape marriage?" Heather giggled trying to imagine it.

"Aye, A wanted my freedom. A was tired of bein told ye gotta do this, ye gotta do that. Yer ta marry one o' the lord's sons, ye donnae git a say in yer own life. My ma finally understood when she was made human again, which is why it was agreed A'd pick who A wanted ta wed when A was ready and fell in love. Now this happens, it's dishonourable." Merida sighed.

"Are you saying Vikings are dishonourable?" Ruffnut glared at the princess.

"Nae," Merida denied not wanting to insult the three girls, "A say it is dishonourable to agree ta terms, then break yer word. Us highlanders take a promise very seriously, and shamefully Lords Dingwall, Macintosh, and MacGuffin have broken their word too. When a highlander agrees ta terms they do so on their honour, and when they break terms they dishonour themselves. All four o' my suitors and their fathers agreed ta the terms that A would choose when ready, they all have acted dishonourably."

Astrid would have taken offence just as Ruffnut had started to, but Merida admitting that the other three Scottish lords acted equally dishonourable made her stop short. The Scots may be strange skirt wearing folk that many could not understand, but Merida was merely pointing out that there was a much higher value to someone's word or promise in Scotland. For a bit longer they explored unaware of someone following and taking notes. They stopped for dinner, catching some fish and cooking them before deciding they would need to return to Berk.

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Knowing the girls would be heading back to Berk, Hiccup and Toothless snuck off to head home as the girls put out the fire used to cook their fish and got ready to head home. Soon they flew back with Merida hitching a ride on Stormfly with Astrid. As promised Astrid went with Merida back to the Chiefs house to make sure Merida's wishes were heard. Once she told both Stoic and Hiccup of Merida's ground rules, she said goodbye to Merida and left for home.

"So Hiccup is not to touch you. Hmmm I wonder how well that will work on your wedding night." Stoic said as he took to poking the fire, and ignoring the bright red that now covered his son and future daught-in-laws cheeks. Merida wanted to tell Stoic that there would be no wedding night because she was not marrying his son. Instead she gave an annoyed growl and whirled away heading for where she had been sleeping. No sooner did she go to Hiccup's room, Hiccup was right behind her.

"Wait Merida about earlier I am so sorry." Hiccup started to say then noticed how she looked at the bed surprised. Before Merida and Astrid arrived, Hiccup decided to make the bed softer for Merida to sleep by putting layer after layer of furrs on the hard wooden boards, a total of four furrs covered the bed. "Oh yeah I umm wanted to make the bed softer for you and hopefully it will help ease the pain in your shoulder at night."

Again the Viking boy could certainly surprise her when she least expected it. "Well thank ye fer thinking o' that, Hiccup."

The confused look was better then the annoyed glare she usually wore for him. "Your welcome princess, please let me know if the bed is too hard still. I can throw some extra furrs on there for you. And again I am sorry about earlier."

Not wanting to overstay his welcome with her he quickly left his room and headed back downstairs. Something told Merida that this was only the beginning, it had only been a couple of days and the days meshed together. Between all that the Scottish lords and Wisps betrayed her, A dragon tried to steal her bathing towel, Hiccup stole her first kiss, and she had somehow become friends with three Viking girls. Still the biggest question was how was she going to get out of here?

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**Author's Note:**

**Just addressing some possible concerns readers may have about this chapter. First off I read a lot of the other series some have written for this and other subjects so a lot of stories I noticed makes Astrid out to be abnormally mean. While it suites the other stories that Astrid be mean towards Merida I wanted to go a different direction. I actually like Astrid as a character and she strikes me as being a bit nicer. Also because she and Merida are very much alike I imagine that they would get along a lot better. So yes Astrid in this story does befriend Merida there is a slight jealousy but no animosity towards each other.**

**Also yes Heather has joined the story. I have also done this because the Viking girls Astrid, Heather and Ruffnut do play a big part in the story ahead. **

**Anyway hope you liked the chapter and please review away.**


	8. The Secret Hot Spring

**Hello all,**

**Just to let everyone know I will be gone for the next three weeks and unable to post a new chapter, so to make up for it this chapter is longer. However it has only been proof read twice instead my checking four and five times for mistakes. Anyway I hope you enjoy the chapter and please leave a review.**

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_He watched her both shocked and in awe as she stepped forward and pulled the cloak away to reveal wild red hair. It was the Princess, it had to be she was wearing the same dress. "A' am Merida. First born descendent of clan Dunbroch, and A'll be shootin fer my own hand!"_

"_What are ye doin?" Queen Elinor gasped as she leaned forward in her chair. The fiery beauty tried to draw back, but her tight formfitting dress hindered her movements and so Merida struggled to move in her dress, as the Queen called out "Merida!"_

"_Curse this dress!" Finally with one sharp pull the tight fabric gave tearing in places to allow for more movement. With a smirk on Merida's face that caused Hiccup's heart to skip beats she drew back and release the notched arrow. The arrow struck the target dead on._

"_Merida stop this!" The Queen called as Merida moved onto her next target and closer to Hiccup. A moment later another arrow was notched then released as the Queen rose from her seat and moved to stop her daughter. 'Dear Thor she is even more beautiful with her hair free, and she's allowed to be herself!' Hiccup thought as he watched mouth agape as Merida moved onto Wee Dingwall's target and even closer to him. This shot took a moment longer and he watched her poised for a moment before the arrow was released. A quick glance told him the Queen was half way to them _

"_I said stop right there Merida!"The queen called lifting her skirts to move quicker towards them. While Merida moved to the last target-his target."Donnae loose another arrow!"_

_'Oh please loose another arrow, I have to memorise this and draw it later!' Hiccup thought as his heart beats picked up in speed and he hoped the Queen would be too late to stop her. "Merida I forbid it!"_

_Right then he took everything in as she notched the last arrow and took aim at his target. Again she took careful aim since he had hit a bullseye as well. She licked her lips and drew in a breath. Her eyes flashed with fiery determination. Then she exhales and the arrow is released. Like Wee Dingwall's his arrow is split in two by hers and he feels something pierce his own heart. Before he had cringed at the thought of marrying the Sottish princess, but right then in that moment he realised he wants her as his wife. He wants to win this competition, he wants to tell her how she had just won his heart. As the Queen apologises to the lords and drags her daughter off, Hiccup looks to the other suitors he was competing with. Young Machintosh is throwing a fit, young MacGuffin is nervous and looking around uncertain of what to do, and Wee Dingwall is a million miles away in his own world. _

_Hiccup looks towards the castle concerned that the fiery princess is getting an earful from her mother for disrupting the competition. A hard clap on the back almost sends Hiccup forward as his dad laughs about the turn of events. "Well it looks like the princess has as much fire as a Monstrous Nightmare."_

"_Yeah she does..." Hiccup trails off still picturing the moment before she released her last arrow._

"_Son? You alright?"_

"_I think I am in love." Hiccup said without thinking._

"_What?" Stoic asked completely taken off guard by his son's words._

"_I mean uhhh I would love to get a drink dad." Hiccup grinned nervously, after all their relationship had grown but there were still certain things both were wary of talking about around one another. Simply put tough Vikings didn't express feelings too much not verbally anyway, and he was not about to be the first Viking to say he was in love. He was sure his dad had heard what he had said before, but rather then press him on it, Stoic laughed and smacked his son on the back almost flooring the poor kid again. His dad never seemed to know his own strength which was bad for a 'scrawny' Viking. _

"_Alright son let's see if we can drink these skirt wearing Scots under the table." His father turned away. "Rooooowwwwllll!"_

_Did he just hear Toothless? The Night Fury was not suppose to be in Scotland. "Roooowwwwllll!" Now followed by a series of Thudding noises. Of course he must be dreaming, then just before he awoke he saw the moment again just before that kiss. Her asleep and her soft lips so inviting. "Rooowwwwwwllll!"_

Groaning Hiccup awoke wishing Toothless had not interrupted the scene where he kissed the princess awake. It had been only four days since that kiss, with little progress made other then observing Merida when she went exploring. He knew he had to try and win her heart before the month was out which was only three weeks away. Yawning Hicup got up from the floor and stretched before getting to his feet and going outside. "Good morning Mr. Bossy."

The dragon gave what sounded like a laugh, that Hiccup mimicked as the dragon came down from the roof. "You know you could've woken Merida."

As Hiccup came forward and petted his nose Toothless opened his mouth. The smell of fish and dragon breath had Hiccup backing up. "Ewwww What? Aweee Toothless. Alright bud we'll go if the fresh air freshens your breath." He was just picking up the saddle and putting it on Toothless when he saw the flash of red out of the corner of his eye. At the back of his house Merida peeked out watching Hiccup, and Toothless. "Good morning Merida."

Merida nodded as she peeked out at him, though it did not feel like a good morning to her. Thus far she had made no progress to escape the island and this wedding she would be forced into. Sure she had explored most of the island, but nothing could help her get off the island. While she had gotten used to Astrid, Heather, and Ruffnut they were still Vikings and they would not help her escape. It was downright discouraging, and since Hiccup had woken her with that kiss she tried her best to avoid him. Groaning internally Merida replied dully. "Good morning Hiccup."

Turning away Merida moved towards the woods to explore more of the island, and Hiccup knew he had to do something. It had been a week, if he did nothing they would get no where and soon be married. "Wait Merida, you...you look beautiful."

The princess turned back surprised to hear Hiccup say something like that. "Ummm Uhhhhhh... your hair is like... like fire and... ummmm your eyes are like...sapphires."

Whack! Toothless smacked Hiccup upside the head with his tail fin for one getting distracted and two for sounding like an idiot whom could barely form a sentence. Hiccup rubbed the back of his head and gave a quick glare back at his dragon whom gave what sounded like a laugh. Then a flow blown laugh escaped Merida's lips that brought Hiccup to focus on her. He gave a croaked grin at the sound of her laugh. "Aweee Toothless yer adorable."

_'Great she notices the dragon more then me!'_ Hiccup sighed dejectedly and started to turn away. Immediately the laughter stopped as Merida knew she couldn't ignore the dragon rider completely. "Hiccup?" As soon as his green eyes looked back to her, Merida tried a weak smile. "Thank ye fer such sweet comments, yer very sweet."

_'Great I am sweet, that's it? Training Dragons is easier then trying to win her heart!' _Hiccup thought. Observing her had revealed key things, but for the most part he was still trying to figure out how to use the knowledge to help him win her over. Before he could shut up he had a thought and voiced it. "I didn't just say them to be sweet, I meant them. Your the most beautiful woman on the island."

Merida's eyes widened, he thought _her _more beautiful then Astrid or Heather? A blush crept over her cheeks. What would she say to this? What could she say? Mumbling a quick thank you she quickly headed off into the woods leaving Hiccup groaning at his inability to gain her affection. "Great to know I'd sooner win the affections of a Deadly Nadder then Princess Merida, and you did not help much."

He turned back to Toothless for the second part of his sentence causing his dragon to give a small growl as if to ask 'What? I didn't do anything.' Hiccup gave another annoyed sigh, "Let's just go bud, I think better when we're flying. Just smack me if I go off to La-La land."

As soon as he mounted Toothless shot into the sky allowing fresh air to blow in their faces. It was enough to wake him up, and sharpen his mind. As they flew about he thought over his dream. While the entire event did happen, Hiccup had forgotten all about what he had thought when he first saw the free spirited princess. "I can't believe I forgot that Toothless. I mean my dad even caught me drawing her in my journal shortly after we went for that drink."

The Night Fury gave a small growl as if to draw his rider back to the present moment. "Your right bud, no point in dwelling on it. Want to go on patrol?"

The small guttural purr was a yes and as usual they were off.

* * *

Meanwhile Merida was glad to be away such conversations with your kidnapper were awkward to say the least. Especially after said kidnapper awoke you with a kiss, at least these outings got her away from Hiccup even if it meant she would have to return to the Viking village and face him later. Fixing on getting back to her last known marker which was an 'M' carved into a tree near the edge of the beach on the eastern end of the island, Merida only stopped for a break to rest. After an hour and a half walk she made it back to the spot she stopped at yesterday. Now to continue by travelling up the beach further and mapping it in her mind.

The day went on like this with Merida mapping out more of the island and using the jagged rock to carve markers into trees as a reminder. As usual she had the burrowed satchel bag filled with apples to snack on. It was during one of these lunch breaks Merida had sat on a log and was half way through her apple. "Hey Merida!"

Looking up there was Astrid on Stormfly, and Ruffnut and Heather on Belch and Barf. "Hello Astrid, Heather, Ruffnut."

"Still mapping the island huh?" Astrid asked.

"Ye caught me again Astrid." Merida replied, by now the two were used to running to each other especially with Merida wondering the island. Part of Merida knew why Astrid kept finding her, a prison guard to watch the prisoner. However Astrid, Heather, and even Ruffnut didn't treat her like a prisoner more like a friend. Despite being kidnapped Merida was actually beginning to like the three Viking girls.

"Still trying to escape?" Ruffnut asked bluntly.

"Ye caught me Ruffnut." Merida sighed knowing with these girls around escape was just that much more impossible.

"You know you won't really be able to escape." Ruffnut pointed out.

"Yeah A'm beginnin ta notice that." Merida groaned getting up, and tossed the remaining apple over her shoulder. Her appetite gone now that she was reminded her attempts to escape would be pointless. It was getting to her to know time was running out and the Vikings would force her to wed Hiccup, she had no real way to vent her anger or frustrations. More then anything she wanted to ride Angus, and shoot a bow. She wanted to take a sword and light into a tree with her anger and frustration. Astrid saw the frustrated glint, as one warrior to another Merida held all the signs of someone needing to vent.

"Come with us to the hot spring, you will feel better." Astrid suddenly invited.

"Astrid the hot spring is a secret!" Ruffnut spoke up.

"It is a secret for women, and Merida is a woman she can come. We just don't tell the men about the Hot spring." Astrid explained.

"Oh good that means Snotlout won't be there." Heather sighed relieved.

"So what do you say Merida? Want to come with?" Astrid asked hoping to distract the Scottish princess from what bothered her. All the while Merida considered it, then sighed the Hot spring did sound relaxing and she did need a place to relax.

"Alright, A'll go wit' ye." Astrid had Stormfly land and held out her hand to help Merida on. Hesitantly the princess took the blonde Viking's hand and mounted the deadly Nadder, then they were off. Merida watched as they flew even further up the beach then went inland. To avoid being fully seen they flew low through the woods, soon the woods grew even more dense. For a moment Merida thought they would have to dismount the dragons or risk hitting a tree, but the Viking girls seemed to be very skilful to navigate the area. As they came to a rock face that was when they stopped and dismounted.

"Don't worry it is just a little further in, this way." Astrid said as they dismounted, and the dragons were told to go relax. After a few minutes search they found what they were looking for, a cave entrance. Entering the cave it eventually led to a much smaller cove then the one Merida previously found. At the centre was a small hot spring with large boulders surrounding it, as well as trees and brush concealing it from view on entering the cave. "Welcome to the most closely guarded secret the Viking women hold. The hot spring."

* * *

The patrol was turning out like it usually did, which was good because it meant that no attacks were forthcoming. It was not until they reached the eastern side that Toothless gave a growl and insisted on landing. This got Hiccup's attention and he did as his dragon wanted landing not far away. Dismounting the pair peeked over a boulder up the beach to spot Astrid, Heather and Ruffnut talking to Merida. Unfortunately he could not hear what they were talking about, he could only see that Astrid had landed and was offering to take Merida some place. For a moment he was worried that Astrid had grown too close to the princess and was offering to take her home because Merida accepted and soon mounted Stormfly with Astrid. Soon they were heading further down beach, and Hiccup wanted to make sure it wasn't off the island. "C'mon bud let's follow them."

The pair were careful to follow at a distance and to go unnoticed, even when they entered the denser wood and eventually came to the rock face where they dismounted. '_Where in Thor's name are they going?' _Hiccup wondered as he got close enough to hear Astrid. "Don't worry it is just a little further in, this way."

Soon the four girls went into a cave, and Hiccup followed a moment later with Toothless in toe. As he entered the cove Astrid said something but it was beyond Hiccup's hearing. Creeping forward slowly Hiccup and Toothless ducked behind some bushes and got into hearing range. "This place is beautiful Astrid!"

"Glad you like it Merida." Astrid said, "So care to get what is bothering you off your chest?"

"Ye mean aside from being kidnapped and forced ta marry?" Merida asked.

"Yeah yeah we get it your angry at being kidnapped and forced to marry." Ruffnut rolled her eyes.

"Thor's ass Ruffnut you can't be jealous can you?!" Astrid asked annoyed.

"Aren't you? We are talking about Hiccup here. Every girl in the village wishes she was in Merida's shoes and marrying him." Ruffnut pointed out.

"Well A ain't every girl in the village, alright?!" Merida yelled, Hiccup covered his mouth to keep from gasping out loud. Every girl wanted him?! The walking talking fish bone?! Stoic the Vast's embarrassment? They were kidding right? "And besides what makes him so special?!"

"Duh he defeated the Green Death." Ruffnut said

"He also saved the entire Hooligan clan." Astrid mumbled

"Not to mention trained dragons." Heather added. There was a lengthy pause as though the princess was absorbing all this.

"So ye all wish ye were marryin him?" Merida asked.

"Yes!"

"Of course."

"Absolutely." The responses floored Hiccup as he wondering how he could not notice the other Viking girls. Again the dream came back to him of when he slipped and told his dad _"I think I am in love!" _Still shocked by all this he continued to listen in, but couldn't see what they were doing. So he didn't know that the girls had undressed and slipped into the water.

"A'm sorry A dinnae ask ta be chosen ta be his wife. If A could A'd try ta get away and maybe he'd pick one of ye."

"Merida it is okay, we understand. Right?" Heather asked then looked to the other two.

"Heather is right, Merida. I mean as much as I would love to become Hiccup's wife. It was decided long ago that we would only be friends. Am I jealous? Yes, but I don't blame you because Hiccup picked you." Astrid replied.

"What do ye mean 'picked me', A thought he kidnapped me ta prevent war. A Political marriage." Merida never mentioned the kiss to the three girls and now knowing they wanted to marry Hiccup she never would.

"Well yes but I sort of peeked in his journal after he returned from Scotland. That was about the time he sort of lost interest in me. His and my relationship never really 'sparked', and we just couldn't seem to become more than friends. Both Stoic and Hiccup told us about the whole competition and bear incident, so I knew who it was when I saw the picture he had drawn of you." Astrid replied.

"Yer sayin he picked me before he kidnapped me even before this war broke out?" Merida asked nervously. Astrid must have nodded because Merida gave a soft gasp. "Oh nae this cannae be happenin!"

"Merida are you okay?" Heather asked now worried, that was when he heard the soft splash of water. But hearing the concern in Heather's voice made him want to see Merida and judge for himself. Creeping closer he ushered Toothless to stay back and carefully peeked out from behind a tree. He could see their heads and bare shoulders in the water and almost gasped, they were having a swim! Immediately he ducked back behind the tree wide eyed, no peeking he told himself just listen.

"Nae A' cannae go back now. A have ta get off this island before he tries somethin else!" Merida fisted her hair as she tried to think.

"Woah relax Merida deep breathes, now what is wrong?" Astrid replied

"Hiccup kissed me shortly after A arrived! If A stay he may try somethin else!" Merida was panicking over the kiss? Really?

"It was your first kiss wasn't it?" This time Hiccup had to peek, he guessed her answer would not be a verbal one and he was right. Merida nodded in response and Astrid sighed. "And now your are panicking over a kiss?"

"Woah Hiccup kissed you? You are so lucky, I bet he's a really good kisser." Ruffnut sighed dreamily. Hiccup ducked back behind the tree mouth agape and eyes wide, this couldn't be real. No Viking girl would want him, right? "Ha she is blushing, I'm right aren't I? Hiccup is a good kisser."

"What?! Wait! A-he woke me by kissin me and-"

"I would love for him to wake me that way." Ruffnut sighed with a dreamy look on her face.

"Wait why are we talkin about the kiss?" Merida asked confused and embarrassed. "A have ta get home before he tries somethin else."

"Merida relax Hiccup is a really sweet caring guy. He wouldn't take advantage of you, the kiss was probably an accident." Astrid said trying to calm Merida, and convince herself not to get upset.

"An accident? Oh sure his mouth just happened ta fall on mine and start massagin my lips. And then he accidentally deepened the kiss which opened my mouth! Aye a complete accident!"

"Okay when she puts it that way it doesn't sound like an accident." Heather spoke up. Hiccup winced as they talked about him kissing the princess. "And what is so funny Ruffnut?"

"Isn't an open mouthed kiss like an invitation?" Ruffnut chuckled causing a lengthy silence to follow, and Merida to go a deep red. Hiccup blushed as well from his hiding spot as it registered Merida had opened her mouth during the kiss. Finally Astrid coughed and decided to switch subjects.

"I have good news Trader Johann should be arriving tomorrow."

"Trader who?" Merida asked.

"Trader Johann, he visits the islands and trades between them. He also visits Scotland from what I hear. He will be here tomorrow to trade items. Why not instead of wondering the woods you stick around tomorrow and come with us to see what he has to offer?" Astrid asked.

"A' guess A could, not like A'll be escapin any time soon." Merida sighed, as she thought up a way to get word to Scotland using the trader. However she feigned boredom to make it look like she wasn't interested. But having learned that she was the cause of Hiccup and Astrid never going beyond friends, Merida was nervous about going back to the Haddock house. How could she even face Hiccup now knowing he had picked her three years ago?

A blush crept over her cheeks as she thought about all the things Hiccup did. She said his bed was too hard he put on layer after layer of furs to soften it up, she tried to avoid him and he would try to talk to her and compliment her. Not to mention all the other things he did for her. He may have kidnapped her but he always tried to look after and protect her. If he was as evil as she thought Vikings were he would not sleep downstairs on the floor, he would not leave breakfast by his bed for her, and he would not let her wonder the woods. He never tried to hurt her or force her to do anything she didn't want to do well aside from the wedding. Astrid was right he was caring and sweet, but every time she thought of marrying Hiccup her memory came back to remind her just how Vikings could be evil and cruel.

"Merida? What is it?" Heather asked.

Merida opened her mouth to say, but nothing came out. If she spoke of the reason why she could not marry Hiccup they would hate her. They wouldn't understand, or they would think she was being unreasonable. Or perhaps they would be angry to know just what her father did to another Viking clan. She bit her bottom lip as she tried to think of what to say and went with one of the smaller uncertainty. "A dunnae know what ta say or do, A had nae idea Hiccup was even interested in me. A thought he was doin this fer political reasons ta protect his people. A feel bad fer him comin back to Berk and him losin interest in Astrid, and A wanna make it right. A mean A dinnae mean fer all this ta happen."

"Merida it is alright, I told you we never sparked and are just good friends. You don't need to apologise over it," Astrid said trying to calm down Merida, "But now that you know he does care about you, you can give him a chance right?"

Merida wanted to cringe as she gulped down the 'no' she wanted to speak. Astrid and Heather gave her hopeful grins, they wouldn't understand if she said 'no she couldn't give Hiccup a chance.' As taught by her mother she forced her features to be calm and smile. "Yes, yes I can." Seeing how relieved they looked made Merida wince. _'Quick Merida! Think of a reason to avoid Hiccup for a bit longer!' _"But A dunnae know what ta do, A'm still nervous. A've never had a boy interested in me before. What do A do?!"

"Wait what about the other Scottish lord's sons? Weren't they interested?" Astrid asked.

"Nae that A could tell. Ian Macintosh was more interested in trainin ta be a warrior, Wee Duncan Dingwall is artistic loves ta paint and enjoys poetry, and Rory MacGuffin loves ta cook. A'm good friends wit 'em, but they never showed a real interest in me. All Ian and A ever did was train or spare. Duncan would show me paintins he did and read poetry, but nothin to suggest interest in me. Lastly Rory mainly had me taste new recipes he tried." Hiccup wanted to sigh in relief that none of the other lord's sons were interested it made this a bit easier, but who wouldn't be interested in her? She was beautiful, wild, and fiery. More to the point how could she think he was only interested in marrying her to end the war? Was the kiss not enough?

"Okay well don't worry about it, you don't need to be nervous now that you know he is interested in you. Just be yourself and give him a chance, and if anything we'll try to help you out." Astrid spoke up again. Hiccup couldn't help but grin despite it all Astrid was trying to help, a true friend.

"A'll try, but A... this is new." Merida replied as she internally cringed, her new friends were going to expect her to give Hiccup a chance. However how could she give him a chance? He was a Viking that had kidnapped her. That would be like asking her to forget what was done to her family and people by Vikings, and she couldn't let go or forget. Having heard enough Hiccup made some quick notes in his journal then snuck away towards Toothless and whispered. "Let's go bud."


End file.
